


THE WILDCARDS

by attackatosh



Category: Fallout (Video Games), Fallout: New Vegas
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon Gay Character, Honest Hearts DLC, Independent New Vegas (Fallout), Lonesome Road DLC, Multi, New Vegas, Other, POV First Person, Polyamorous Character, Trans!Arcade, legion-aligned female OC
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-08
Updated: 2019-12-27
Packaged: 2020-11-27 14:30:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 22
Words: 26,091
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20949935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/attackatosh/pseuds/attackatosh
Summary: When Dexter Lux, once the Lone Wanderer, "dies" out in the Mojave Wasteland, he embarks on a journey with his boyfriend to figure out himself, where he wants to be, and the future of New Vegas.





	1. LIFE AND DEATH AND LIFE, AGAIN (Prologue)

**Author's Note:**

> **New POV wheels provided by murdercult!!!!**
> 
> This is my first "big" fic i've had any level of passion to finish. I'm very much NOT used to doing entire full-ass works like this, and I'm starting by posting the original chapters (Prologue -> Chapter 15) from DeviantArt before crossposting to both dA and here starting with CHAPTER 16. Please enjoy! I'm learning slowly.
> 
> The wheel at the start of every chapter signifies the POV that chapter is from. (Dyce, Arcade, John, or Dexter.)

  
_[ i died and saw the light my friend ]  
[saint motel - born again]_

-[]-

_…You, once the Messiah of the Capital Wasteland, had long left that life, opting to become a Courier, now hired by the Mojave Express, under orders to deliver a package to the New Vegas Strip. Of course, in the life of someone like you... Luck was never on your side._

-[]-

Voices. That’s what I heard. Three… Men. Arguing about something. I shuffled, looking up at them, their attention immediately changing to focus on me. I didn’t hear the end of their conversation… but the one in the middle, with the suit, he looked at me.

He grinned, pulling a chip from his pocket. My delivery… I racked my brain trying to figure out how I ended up in this situation. Thinking move far back than I should have… I remembered first arriving in the Mojave, my boyfriend vanishing suddenly… me combing as much NCR territory as I could, trying to find him. It was how I got this stupid job – three years of fruitlessly trying to find someone who was, by all accounts, probably dead. Least if I died this time I’d get to see him again… if y’know, God was something my dad _didn’t_ lie to me about.

The man in the suit kept rambling, my brain trying to follow along. It was stunningly difficult… Until he pulled the gun. All at once, my eyes were trained right on him, the gun in particular.

“Truth is…” He smiled, lifting the gun up. “Game was rigged from the start.”

And then suddenly… Nothing.

I was alone, the world gone. No sight, no sound. Nothing. I was dead. If not right then, then very nearly soon.

Then, light! I… Was I being reborn? Who knows? The only other time I had seen a light so bright… I had just entered this world. Mom, her job done, promptly said hello and decided cardiac arrest was a preferable alternative to raising what would eventually amount to dead weight.

“Now, relax, son.” I heard a voice say. Slow, grandfatherly, some sort of Southern accent..? “He’s starting to come to, but you can’t rush these things.”

“I-I know that!” A second voice stammered. One I recognized – the mumbly, lispy, slurred speech of… No. No way. “B-but he, he’s gotta… It’s…” He yelled in frustration, banging on something. It dinged, and the other man chuckled.

“Well, now you’ve just told the Vit-o-Matic you’ve got 15 out of 10 strength… How am I supposed to calibrate that for when he wakes up?”

“I…” He whimpered, the other guy pitifully chuckling as I heard him move, sitting down.

I tried to move my arms first, lifting them up and then dropping them onto whatever I was laying on. The light finally came down, and… a fan. I was in a bed. I slowly moved, carefully sitting up.

“Dexteeeerrrrrrr!” I was immediately bombarded with both elated sobs and a concerned elderly man trying to pry my lovely boyfriend off of me. “Noooo, l-let me go! I-I… P-Please?”

The older man sighed, looking at me. “You know him, I’m told.”

“Y-Yeah.” My voice rattled. It barely sounded like me… My accent usually wasn’t this noticeable. “M-My boyfriend.” I smiled softly, ruffling his hair as the older guy sat back down. “John… it’s been so long.”

“D-Dex, wh-wh-what happened!?” He sobbed, clinging to me only slightly _less_ than superglue on an eyelid. “I-I… I came back; I was looking for you f-fo-for days… And I saw… I-I saw the robot with your b-b-b-body…” He had his arms like a vice grip around me… Didn’t matter though. I was just glad he was okay. That _he_ was alive.

I looked down at him. He was nearly translucent now, the pale white colour his skin used to be now was a faint blue, scars and veins visible across every bit of visible skin he had. His lips were a deep purple, his hair still mostly kept but definitely a lot messier… and a scar across his entire forehead. He’d gotten a new outfit in the time we’d been apart, too. A tight-fitting thing, black with white trim… and was it whistling?

“You look so different now.” I mumbled, touching his cheek gently. “Where have you been?”

“P-Places.” He mumbled. “I got… I had an accident. But I got better.”

“And the suit?”

“S-She’s. A friend.”

“Hello!” The suit chirped. I have to admit, I may have jumped a bit more than I should have. John ended up on the floor and I was practically fetal. “Oh…. Sorry…”

“No, no don’t w-w-worry about it…” John muttered. “H-Her name is…”

“He usually calls me ‘Sneaky!’” She said, rather gleefully. “He’s my best friend forever.”

“I…” He stood up, dusting himself off. The suit giggled, and he rolled his eyes. “Th-this is Dexter. He’s my boyf-f-friend.”

“Are you introducing him… to your suit?” The older man piped up again, the two of us looking at him.

“Yeah. Her name’s Sneaky. She’s my best friend.”

“O…kay.” He blinked slowly, and I shrugged.

“That’s just how John is.” I chuckled, John smiling sheepishly.

“Right. Well, let’s… get you on your feet and see how your vitals are doing. John, could you help him up while I get the Vit-o-Matic calibrated?” He asked, standing up. John nodded, getting back on his feet and grabbing my arms, gently pulling me up. I stumbled to my feet, tripping and landing in his arms as my head throbbed. I could hear my blood roaring through my ears and he held me, trying to keep me upright.

“R-R-Right… D-Do you think you can walk?” He looked up at me. He had grown a little bit in the years he’d been gone, but he was still pretty tiny and only came up to my shoulder.

“Yeah. Stick close though… It’s been a while since I last walked.”

We stumbled towards the machine, myself tripping and bashing my face against the side of the machine. The old man and John jumped out of the way as I rolled on my back.

“Doc, I don’t th-think the Vit-o-Matic is a good idea right now.” John said after a pause.

“...I suppose not.” He knelt down, helping me onto my feet. “Here, why don’t you come with me to the next room and we’ll work on the psychological aspects of your recovery.”

“Alright…” I mumbled. “It’s really not my week, is it?”

“N-not really.” John chuckled. “D-Don’t worry though. Goodsprings has good p-people in it.” He smiled, hopping up on his toes to kiss my cheek. “Y-You’ll be fine!”

“I hope so.” I laughed, sitting on the couch as Doc sat on a chair across from me. John sat on the ground to the right of us, between the couch and chair.

We did some basic psych excercises, mainly word association, and the Rorschach tests. He handed me something to write down my history on (Not like there was much to tell; I’m pretty healthy for someone who’d just been shot in the head…)

Wrapping things up, John looked up at me as we were walking out the door. “Here, I-I’ve got your clothes.”

He handed me a bundle of white fabric. Opening it up revealed my Vault jumpsuit and my glasses were bundled neatly inside my labcoat, alongside the alien blaster I’d obtained so long ago.

“My glasses are all shattered…?” I mumbled, holding the frames up. He sighed, shrugging.

“B-Benny shot you in the e-eye; Doc had to take the whole thing out… I-I’m surprised you didn’t notice.” John muttered.

I shrugged. “I guess I just don’t see like other people do.”

The doc looked at the two of us, nodding at John. “Here, I’ve got the rest of your things here. Courier’s note, stimpaks and aid… And a strange-looking Pip-Boy.”

I quickly tossed my suit and labcoat on, taking my things back from the doc with a nod. “Thank you.” He handed me back my Pip-Boy, and I slid it into my pocket. My original Pip-Boy I got back in Vault 101 had an unfortunate accident with the Enclave and a stray bullet… so I salvaged the circuitry and crammed it all into a smaller form factor. It was nice to have both arms free, too.

“I wish both of you luck out there.” The doc said, nodding at the two of us as John opened the door. “Try not to get another one in that noggin of yours; two was hard enough.”

“Th-thank you, Doc.” I waved. “Maybe later on I’ll see you guys again and not be in a coma.” I said with a laugh, following John out the door.


	2. LEGENDARY NOBODY

  
[ i'm a whisper lost upon wind]  
[seether - nobody praying for me]  
-[]-

John and I looked around, John grinning with delight as he led me to the saloon. “You-you’re going to love Sunny, sh-she’s really nice!” He stammered excitedly, opening the door and waving. A dog lept forth, tackling him and excitedly licking his face, him petting the dog as he laughed. “Aahhh, h-hello Ch-Cheyenne!”

“Cheyenne! Down, girl!” The owner said, rolling her eyes and whistling. She hopped off of John’s chest, sadly walking to the woman and sitting with a whine. “I know, you’re excited to see your new friend again…”

“It-it’s no big deal, Sunny.” John smiled, getting up. “S-She’s just excited.”

Sunny laughed, twisting her hair around and adjusting her bun. “Nah, I know, just don’t wanna scare your friend there.” She turned, looking at me and waving. “Name’s Sunny Smiles.”

“Dexter.” I said, nodding. “Dexter Lux.” I said it a little too confidently, I’m sure. Nobody knows me out here, not for anything I did back home. “People just call me Dex, though.”

“Nice to meet’cha then, Dex.” She nodded, patting Cheyenne’s head. “This is Cheyenne; She won’t bite ‘less I tell her to, but she might get excited seein’ you again if she smells John on you.” She said with a laugh as I knelt down in front of the dog, scratching her chin gently. “Oooh, careful, she loves chin scritches…”

John chuckled as I stood back up, dusting the fur off of my labcoat. “H-He’s new in town.”

“Is he? How long’s he been here?”

“W-Well…” I scratched the back of my head with a slight laugh. “Spent the night underground and woke up in the doctor’s house… if that says anything.”

“He-he’s been out f-for a couple days… G-Got shot by some punk I s-saw wh-when I got home.” John muttered. “H-He’s good with a g-gun though.”

“Well, energy pistol from god-knows-what-planet, but…” I shrugged. “John and I made a trek across the continent a few years ago, so we know each other like the backs of our hands.”

Sunny nodded. “Oh, actually! Reminds me – Johnny, can you and your buddy here help me with some Geckos? They’ve been messin’ with the water supply again…”

He nodded, looking up at me. “Wanna join us?”

I shrugged. “Why not? May as well see if I can actually walk without falling over.” I chuckled softly as John, Sunny, and myself walked out of the saloon, the two of them pulling their weapons out. Sunny had some kind of rifle. John had a strange thing around his hand – Bright orange, with a strange box on top of his knuckles.

John looked at me, raising an eyebrow. “Power fist.” He said softly. “G-Good for p-punching things.”

I nodded, watching as Sunny stopped us near the well. “Stay hidden; they haven’t seen us yet.”

The three of us split up, crouching behind rocks. Three of them – Short, fat little bastards, the Geckos. They always looked rather silly when they gave chase. I held up my blaster, staring down the sights and taking a deep breath…

It was a trick I taught myself when I was ten. Taking a deep breath, holding my gun close, focusing so intently on the target that time seemed to stop completely… followed by taking aim and firing. It always felt weird, especially when losing my focus. Time came back into motion and next thing I knew, the Geckos were on the ground, one of them neatly arranged as a pile of ash.

“I’ve never seen someone empty a clip into a small animal so quickly.” Sunny said, uncharacteristically flat. “Johnny, he do that a lot?”

“S-Sometimes.” He looked at me, and I shrugged. “What, c-can’t control your hyperf-focus?”

“I _can,_ I just wanted to see if getting my frontal lobe poked with searing-hot pointy death would change how it functioned. And spoiler alert: It did not.” I rolled my eyes, folding my arms and pretending to act all offended. John laughed, stretching as Sunny put her gun away.

“Yeah, wh-whatever…” John chuckled. “You made that same e-excuse back when we were exploring Abandon, remember?” He asked it so innocently…

“Exploring, where?” I raised an eyebrow. “I remember…”My voice trailed off. I remembered… Nothing. “I can’t remember.”

“You can’t?” John’s face fell. “It was… th-that fort, with the crossroads.”

I shook my head. “As…” I sighed. “I know you’re telling the truth. I just… can’t remember. As far as my brain’s concerned, we just… _teleported_ here.”

“But that’s not possible!” John sighed. “You know teleportation hasn’t been perfected for cross-country transport; it – theoretically – only barely works cross-region! You know how hard it is to set up a teleport from one end to--?!”

“John!” I shook my head. “I know. Teleportation is at _least_ six years off from being 100% cross-region compatible.” I waved, shrugging. “It’s just… The best excuse I can think of. Amnesia’s a bitch.”

“For real.” He half-pouted. “We had a lot o-of fun that year.”

“Well, if you two are done having a married quarrel… I’ve got some steaks to grill if you guys want some.” Our heads snapped over as Sunny laughed. “See, there it is – you two are just hungry!” She laughed, walking off. John and I looked at each other, shrugging as we wandered back over to the saloon.


	3. MEMORY GAME

  
[ get up, get up, get a move on ]  
shinedown - get up  
-[]-

“You really don’t remember anything, huh?” John asked sadly as we sat outside. There was a blue steamer trunk sat by the door, so we used it as a makeshift bench. “Literally, _nothing_ from the past four years?”

I shook my head, shrugging. “Not a damned thing.” I said with a sigh. “What do _you_ remember?”

“Well…” He paused. “We got here four years ago. Obviously. Then… about a year after that, I got lost. You got lost, too.” He looked away, seemingly on the evasive. “We started in the Hub. You… You had to deliver something alone, so you took the package and dropped me off in Vegas. After that…”

“What?” I tilted my head. “What happened?”

“I got lost, and then… well, we didn’t see each other for… a while.” He chuckled. “Not for lack of trying; I was sending every kind of signal I could think of! Relay, distress, sine waves… pornographic…” He slumped forward, shoulders sagging. “Then, I finally make my way back home, and what _I_ find is your crumpled body in that Securitron’s arms, your face… completely ruined.” He looked at me, his eyes meeting mine. “The doc and I did what we could but… you still aren’t quite going to look the same as you used to.”

“You’re one to talk.” I said softly. “What happened to _you,_ too much silver?”

John rolled his eyes, leaning against me. “I’ll tell you about it later; it’s a long story.”

A strange robot rolled up in front of the stairs, waving. “Howdy, partner! Good to see you up n’ about again!”

“Hey, Vic.” John said, waving back. “Yeah, he’s been walking around all day! Surprised you didn’t notice us.”

“Maybe I’ve just been busy.” He chuckled. “We Securitrons have a lot on our plates, you know.”

“Of course, of course…” John grinned. “Here, Dex, let me introduce you. This is Victor – he’s the robot that saved you.”

I waved. “Thanks.” I said quietly. It was weird… You’d think I’d have remembered a face like Victor’s.

He rolled away, and John looked up at me. “You… Least you remember me, hah.”

“Yeah.” I shrugged. “You, and everything else that happened back in the Capital…” My voice trailed off, and I looked away. “Dad, dealing with Autumn… the project…”

“Ssh. Hey…” John held me tighter. “We came out here to start a new life, didn’t we?” He smiled, his round goofy face making my heart melt. “You and I. Out here, making a difference in a new way.”

“Yeah…” I smiled. “And how are we gonna do that?”

John laughed. “Getting out there and kicking Benny’s ass for what he did to you!”

“Who?” I tilted my head curiously.

“Oh-- right.” John shook his head. “We met him the first time we were out on the Strip – he was a sweet guy…” He sighed, his voice growing wistful. “He had respect for us.”

“Oh, _god_, I know that voice –“ I folded my arms, rolling my eyes. “You slept with him.”

“It let us get that sweet room.” John shrugged. “Why use my voice when my body speaks louder?”

I sighed, shrugging. “I mean, still… He didn’t, care or anything?”

“Not really. Granted, we were both pretty wasted…”

I blinked slowly, squinting. “Was this before or after you vanished?? You were only like, 19 when you buggered off; don’t tell me I let you drink _that_ young.”

“Like you’re innocent? I remember us sharing a fair few bottles of scotch once your dad’d kicked it.” He folded his arms, pouting. “Can’t judge me for something you’re just as guilty for doing.”

I looked away, grimacing. _Fuck,_ he was right about that, huh? The nights we’d gotten plastered then… Well, did what two lonely, shitfaced teenagers would do. “S-Still…”

“You’re only like, a year and a half older.” John said, rolling his eyes. “Don’t worry about it; we’re both _definitely_ of legal drinking age now.” He chuckled, stretching himself in a rather silly way to try and ruffle my hair; I helped him out by leaning down slightly.

“Listen, John…” I looked at him. “What do you know about Benny? Whatever you know… it’ll make this a lot easier.” I said with a sigh. “I can’t remember anything; you’ve got more knowledge about this than I do.”

“I don’t know much myself other than he’s on the Strip.” John shrugged. “We’d still have to follow his trail; he had friends with him. They’d know more about his whereabouts than I do.”

“Well, do you know where to _look,_ even?” I shook my head. “Anything, even.”

“We could try… Novac.” John said after a pause. “But we’d have to get there through Primm and Nipton…”

“Wouldn’t hurt to make a few stops along the way. Anything important in either?”

“Well…” He put a hand on his chin, sticking his tongue out and looking around… God, he looked cute when he was thinking. “The Mojave Express building is in Primm! We could ask Nashy about your package.”

“N-Nashy?” I asked, making a face. “Who?”

“Oh, Johnson Nash… he’s the guy that runs the Express outpost in Primm.”

“Ahhh.” I nodded slowly, not understanding anything he was saying.

“But if we need to get all the way to Novac…” John looked out towards the flat lands, looking somewhat worried. “We’d better hustle; sun’s about to set.”

“How long’s it gonna take us?” I looked over at him. He looked back at me, his eyes weirdly lazing about.

“Well… It’ll still take us at least a few hours but I’d say it’ll be better to travel earlier so we know we can fend for ourselves if we have to travel during the night.” He stood up, walking over and leaning against the rail.

“It is about 3 in the afternoon.” Sneaky said softly. “What makes you think the sun sets at 3 PM?”

“Uhhh… Living in a desolate Vault after getting kicked out of Lamplight? Neither place exactly has a great source of natural light…” John mumbled. “And you know… being stuck in the mountain for years didn’t help much.”

“Mountain?” I stood up, walking over to him. “What mountain?”

“Oh, u-uh…” He looked away. “I did-didn’t mention a mountain… H-How’d you… Wh-where, uh, wh-w-where did you hear about a mountain…?”

I placed a hand firmly on his shoulder. He tensed up, turning to me with bugged-out eyes and a look of shock on his face. “You were talking to Sneaky about it. Is… Is that where you went? To a mountain?”

“Big MT.” She said simply. “It is a special place for John.”

“Sn-Sneaky!” John stammered, grabbing at the collar of the suit. Rather suddenly, he went from wearing a skin-tight stealth suit to a dirty tank-top and shorts.

“I… I’m sorry…” She said sadly, now muffled underneath his arm. “I’ll be good…”

“I’ll put you back on later.” He said, strangely stern. “Dex… Let’s just get going.”

I didn’t say anything else as he pushed my hand off of his shoulder, trudging onward… Completely barefoot and in his underwear, angrily carrying what was probably a stolen piece of high-tech spywear.

I had to admit, I liked his style… Even if now I had even_ more_ questions about where he’d gone.


	4. MAKING THINGS SIMPLE

John and I were on the road for a while, the sun setting as we arrived at Primm’s wall. NCR troopers dotted the road, blocking the way in.

“Why’s the entrance barricaded…?” John mumbled, peering through the iron bars that were supposed to be protecting the town from everyone else. “We gotta get past the NCR guys.”

“How?” I looked over at them, putting a hand on my chin. “Killing them’s a bad idea…”

While I was too busy thinking, John had managed to clamber up onto the concrete pillars, looking down and holding out his hand. Shrugging, I took his hand and climbed up the concrete; the two of us jumping down into the city.

Nothing moved in the streets. The whole town seemed abandoned… We snuck around behind buildings, looking up at the large “MOJAVE EXPRESS” sign that served as a rather nifty hat for one of them. “Maybe Nash is in there?”

John tapped on my shoulder, pointing towards a dilapidated, rectangular building. A strange wooden track was draped on top of the roof, twirling around the building and the area behind it like a deranged ribbon. “I figure… we should split up. You head—“ He pointed towards a huge building across the street. “—Over there. I figure, big place, they’ll be holed up in there ‘cos of the NCR.”

Our heads turned and we scattered as guns started firing towards us. I spun around, shooting one of the assailants in the face as John punched the head off of the other, sending brains flying everywhere.

“Okay. Maybe… maybe not because of the NCR.” He admitted after a pause. “I’ll head into the Bison Steve. You go over there.”

I nodded, entering the building he had pointed towards. A man walked up, stopping me and pointing behind him. “Why would you wanna be here?” He asked, giving me a furious stink-eye.

“I’m just… I’m looking for Johnson Nash?” I shrugged. “My boyfriend and I were in town, and I’m—uh, hold on…” I mumbled, digging through my pockets. Damn my lack of proper organisational skills! “Here we go…” I pulled out my Pip-Boy, pulling up the digital Mojave Express order instructions and showing it to him.

“Ah, I see.” He nodded. “Well, I’m Johnson Nash. Let me see that note of yours.” He asked. I nodded, handing my Pip-Boy over. He held the tiny thing cautiously, like he didn’t quite know how to cope with the smaller form factor. Whatever; better to have a weird grip than a permanent thing strapped to my arm. “Ah, yep, that’s one of ours.” He chuckled, handing it back to me and nodding as I pocketed it. “Out of the six of you we sent out, four of them made it to their destinations. The only ones that didn’t were Four... and you.”

I nodded slowly. “Not much else you can tell me then, huh.”

“Nothin’ besides askin’ you to help us outta this mess.” He admitted, shrugging. “Powder Gangers took over and killed our sheriff; we’ve been holed up in here for a few days now.”

“Alright… My boyfriend’s in the Bison Steve at the moment, I think I can help fudge something in the meantime though…” I said, eyes drifting over to a Protectron on the other side of the room. “Why not use that Protectron over there?”

“None of us have the skill to reprogram it.” He admitted, following me as I walked over to inspect the robot. “Think you wanna give it a go?”

I nodded, popping the back panel off of my Pip-Boy and catching the plug as it landed in my hands. “May as well. Any standard-issue RobCo bot… Should…” I spun the bot around, jacking into the port on the back of its neck. “There we go. Standard communications port for Pip-to-Bot serial.”

“How do you know all this stuff?” He asked incredulously as I opened the bot’s terminal. “It’s all just mumbo-jumbo to me.”

I used my other hand to gesture to my labcoat and Vault jumpsuit, looking at him and raising an eyebrow. “I was a doctor back before I left home; in our Vault that also meant I was the guy who kept the robots from vivisecting everybody.” I smirked, tapping away at the admittedly-finicky touch screen of my Pip-Boy. “And, really, by that I mean my dad handed me a manual of how to tap into any RobCo machine’s internal terminal… to… change the AI at a moment’s notice.” I smacked the side of the thing, unplugging the cable as the Protectron whirred back to life.

“Amazin’! Does it work?” He asked, reaching a hand out. I smacked it down and shook my head.

“Yeah. So don’t touch him unless you’re keen on getting shot.” I grumbled as the Protectron stomped away, following behind it as it walked outside, the two of us shooting down the remaining Powder Gangers.

There were a surprisingly low amount compared to when I went inside; I should have figured that a red flag when John came out from a building, a scraggly man with wide eyes behind him.

“S-So that’s what that chem does…” He whimpered, his voice shakey. “A-Are all the Powder Gangers dead?”

“Y-yeah. It l-looks like Dex and the P-Protectron got the last of ‘em.” John grinned. “You d-did good, Deputy…”

“Say… do you have more of that?” the deputy asked, twiddling his hands.

John nodded, catching my glare as I watched him hand the guy a handful of red inhalers. “As much as you can carry.”

“John!” I barked. He yelped, dropping one of the inhalers and jumping into the air. “Did you give the cop fucking _Jet?_” My mouth was agape with confused shock. “You. I. You _know_ how addictive that shit is, right?”

“No…?” He grinned sheepishly. “A-Addiction? What’s… wh-what’s that?”

I groaned. “Okay, whatever.” I took his hand and looked at the deputy. “I made the Protectron the sheriff while you were out. _Please_ take this.” I dug through my pockets, pulling out several boxes of Fixer. “Custom-made; it should stop your addictions permanently.”

He nodded, thanking me in confusion as we walked away.

“So… You didn’t learn anything, then?” John asked after a pause.

“No, nothing aside from myself and one other didn’t make it; everyone else got their payment.” I muttered, rolling my eyes. “That _would_ be my luck, huh?”

“Maybe we’ll have better luck on the road.” John sighed. “Hopefully.”

“We’d better.” I growled under my breath.

This was _really_ shaping up to be a bad week.

-[]-  
  
Soon.  
toby fox - susie  



	5. RED EYES, TAKE WARNING

  
_[ you'll get no respect ]  
[godsmack - locked and loaded]_

-[]-

The walk from Primm to Nipton was, unexpectedly, rather uneventful. We walked for a short while, Sneaky telling jokes to keep us occupied.

Then we heard him. That _goddamn_ screaming…

**“I JUST WON THE _FUCKING_ LOTTERY!!!” **His voice tore through the silence, ear-blasting through the dead air as he darted in front of us, excitedly waving his ticket around.

“The… The lottery?” John grumbled, hands on his ears as the man screeched past. “Hope it was the lottery run by deaf people… jesus.”

I looked down at him, raising an eyebrow. “You good?”

“Good. Yeah, good for someone whose eardrums were scream-fucked out of his head.” He sighed, walking ahead. Smoke rose up from the buildings as we finally arrived in Nipton, flags bearing a rearing bull on either side of us. John stopped, looking around in horror.

“What’s up?”

“Legion… The legion’s been here.” He said softly, turning to look at me. “Slaver _empire._ They… they grow themselves by enslaving others.”

“Legion… huh.” I mumbled.

“We saw them when we were crossing the Colorado, remember? There was that girl who asked us to help her across… only to figure out she was trying to get to Caesar, their leader.”

“Girl? We interacted with a girl?”

“Don’t be _that_ obtuse, Dex – You didn’t forget Moira or Amata, did you?”

“No, of _course_ not!” I protested, folding my arms. “Still.”

John grabbed my hand suddenly, pulling me ahead and ducking behind a pile of burning tires. The smell was awful, but he didn’t seem to care. “Ssh. I heard things over here.” He whispered, barely audible. “Two people.”

We peeked our heads over the tires, seeing two people through the flames. A shorter man wearing a dog on his head, and a taller woman, with deep pink hair and glittering red eyes.

“Come _on,_ Vulpes~” She purred, putting a hand on his chin. He shuddered slightly, but held his ground. “I felt that… You are _suffering_, having to work with me… I can tell.~” She leaned down, her eyes meeting his. “You wriggle like the little worms we crucify… Is it maybe that my heartlessness…_ gets_ to you?”

He pushed her to the side, shaking his head. “Listen, I don’t care what Caesar lets you do back at The Fort… but distract me from my work and I’ll have _you_ crucified.”

“But we’ve _done_ all our work already… What, you’re just gonna stand here and wait for someone else to ask what’s happened? We made enough of a statement… let’s blow off some steam, take a little break before we get back to standing around…” She giggled, putting her hands on his shoulders and leaning down. “Every time I touch you, you shiver and shake… So _very_ pent up…”

He grumbled, half-assedly pushing her hand off his shoulder. “Dyce. _Stop._ I hear something, and you trying to fornicate is how _other_ degenerates get away.”

“D-Degenerate?!” She glared. “Hmph. I oughta teach you a lesson, Vulpes.” She folded her arms, smirking. “Show you how to _really_ behave around his adored Venus.”

John looked at me, shaking his head. “_God._ Girls, am I right?”

“Hey, she’s keeping him distracted… For as much, uh, _heat_ as she’s putting on, we oughta thank her for that.” I shrugged. “They’ll bugger off any minute and then we can be on our way.”

The other man sighed, tilting his head back to look up at the woman. “You _know_ I’m about twice your age, and also know _exactly_ what Caesar would say if we _did_, as you say, ‘take a break.’”

“Hmph… you’re no fun.” She sighed, eyes practically radiating hunger. “Lighten up, Vulpes… and give me a call when you’re ready to _satisfy_ those shakes of yours.~”

He scoffed, rolling his eyes as she twirled away. “Of all the people to stick me with… why _your_ little breeder, Caesar…?” he grumbled, looking at the crucified people around him.

“B-breeder?” I stammered, looking at John. “She didn’t look much older than us.”

“Psh, Caesar’s practically immortal if these guys are to be believed. Every time he dies they just stick googly eyes on him and he’s right as a button.” John rolled his eyes. “C’mon, let’s sneak around and blow this joint.”

We crept from behind the tires, dashing from hiding spot to hiding spot. Luckily, neither of them noticed us as we darted away from Nipton, sun on our backs as we slowed to a regular walk.


	6. FORTUNE FINDER

  
_[ you drift into the darkest skies ]  
[the veer union - living not alive]_

-[]-

I huffed, stomping on the floor just out of earshot. How _dare_ he ignore me like that! None of the _other_ legionnaires ever say no! Whatever. I sighed, picking up my backpack and pulling out my wastelander clothes. Caesar had them made for me after I’d begun acting on orders from him directly – made me look unrecognisable as a member of his Legion. I sighed, lazily shoving my Legion armor in the bag and putting on my disguise, tugging at the shirt to make sure… _all_ the distractions were in place.

It felt weird, showing off my body like this… but hey, if it makes Caesar happy, maybe I’ll get a bit more used to it. Hell, it’s already loads easier from when he first had me wearing these sorts of outfits… That was four years ago; maybe another four will be all it takes to get fully used to wearing this stuff. I bounced slightly, making sure everything was in order before shoving my backpack under my bed again and walking outside, Vulpes glaring at me as I walked past him.

“Oh, is _this_ your ploy for--?”

“No.” I hissed, cutting him off. “I’m heading down to Primm – I’ve got an idea. You saw those two behind the tires, right?”

He paused, slowly nodding. “So you did notice… and you _still _let them get away.”

“No, no… I recognised one of ‘em. The dude with the long hair. Remember what we heard from the Frumentarii in Goodsprings?”

“With the guy in the suit and the Khans, yeah.” He raised an eyebrow as I paced back and forth. “Why, did you think of something?”

“Not ‘think of’ so much as ‘remembered.’” I smirked. “Remember that book I had in my backpack before we left? The Wasteland Survival Guide.”

“Oh, that drink coaster you were insistent on reading.” He rolled his eyes. “Why do you ask?”

“He helped write it! He’s that ‘Lone Wanderer’ guy, it said so in the book!”

“How… what?”

I sighed, pulling a scrap of paper from my breast pocket. “Lone Wanderer, Messiah of the Wastes, Moira Brown’s Best Friend: Dexter Jameson.” I shoved the paper back inside. “If you were paying attention when they first arrived in Nipton, that round one called the long-haired guy ‘Dex,’ which is stated in the Guide to be one of his many nicknames.”

Vulpes blinked slowly, shaking his head. “So you’re gonna chase him down?”

“I suppose.” I closed my eyes, putting a hand on my chin. “My plan was to lure him to me with a piece of technology, maybe some medical supplies… Something to bring him to me… then take him while he’s down.”

“Is this a ploy to bed someone… _outside_ of the Legion?” He asked, half-mockingly. I glared at him, walking towards the two Legion flags we had set up.

“Look, I’m a whore, but I’m not a _stupid_ whore.” I put a hand on the pole and winked at him. “My loins are reserved for the finest cuts of Legion meat.”

He looked away, pink creeping across his cheeks as I giggled, walking down the road and away from Nipton.

Within a few hours, I’d arrived in Primm. Looking around, I scouted the area and checked out the buildings. The roads were quiet, the deep indigo sky drowning the town in a sleepy blue hue.

I leaned against a wall, looking up at a nearby roof. “MOJAVE EXPRESS” was written across the top in giant metal letters. The frumentarii had mentioned that they were planning to go to Primm as well as Nipton – Logically, they had just left Nipton… so they should have passed through here already.

Six… I mumbled under my breath, opening the door. An older man was leaning against the counter, one hand resting on it. He was facing away from me, his other hand gently being held by a hunched figure, a slender woman with long, almost-black hair, though the light shining through the cracks in the ceiling revealed deep tinges of pink… not unlike my own hair. A bright white streak tore down one side of their hair, seemingly glittering despite being in the shade. They looked up at the man’s face, a lavender blindfold across their eyes.

“Your future… it fascinates me.” Their voice was a vague whisper, barely audible from my position in the doorway. “Your business blooms, your family is happy…” She turned her head, seemingly staring directly at me. “Your customers, they ask you strange questions.”

“Huh?” He mumbled, turning around. “Oh, welcome – apologies for the wait. Can I help you?”

I nodded, walking up to the counter. “I’m looking for… Courier Six.”

“Who’s asking?” The man glared, folding his arms.

“I need a specific… high-risk courier to deliver a package.” I said after a pause, pulling something from my pocket – A bright pink crystal. The woman’s head shot towards it, taking a step backwards in surprise. “It’s a priceless gem… and I need it delivered to Ben Gramarye.”

He closed his eyes, nodding. Seems like he fell for my bait. “Yeah… I can see why you’d need a high-risk courier for that, as well as the personal delivery here.”

“Do you know where he’s gone?” I asked again, upping the cuteness factor and wiggling slightly. “I could _really_ use a hand here, mister…”

He looked away, grumbling. “He’s probably on his way towards Vegas, to finish his current delivery. Since he was here in Primm yesterday, he should be in… Probably either Novac or Boulder City by the time you catch up with him.”

“Thank you sir~!” I squealed, blowing a kiss at him and twirling towards the doorway, slinking out and pocketing the crystal. It was some old heirloom, I guess – given to me by my granddad before I got my new start. Nobody ever told me what it was for; which was strange given everything back home had its use.

I shook my head, looking at the streets around. The woman had left, taking the back exit and walking towards a tent she had set up near the Bison Steve… I walked over, peering my head into the doorway, lowering my voice slightly.

“Hello? Is anybody in here?” I asked quietly. She sat at a low table, surrounded by candles. In front of her was a cracked, dirty mirror ball. She was touching the ball gently, mumbling to herself… She was practically silhouetted with how everything looked behind her.

“…A customer… but who enters my tent? Who disrupts my own aura…” She whispered. “…Come, now… you should know what I am. _Who_ I am.”

“You’re… Agatha Garcia.” I said plainly. “Master of fortunes, seer of fates good and bad. You do tarot readings on Thursdays. Your gender… You don’t have one.”

They nodded, smiling… a gentle, familiar smile. “I knew it was you.” They scowled, putting a hand on the table. “Come… I will read yours for free.”

“F-Free?” I looked at them, raising an eyebrow. “Surely you should charge like any other customer…”

“You… are not any normal customer.” The smile creeped wider across their face. “Don’t deny good fortune.”

I gulped, kneeling in front of their table. They smiled, taking my hand and placing the other on the ball. “So… what should I do…?”

“Relax yourself… Take a deep breath. Tell me your… name.”

“Ol… Oliv..er. Dyce Oliver.” I mumbled, hesitating.

“Yes…” They nodded, their hair glittering in the candlelight. “I see… A man. Shorter in stature, taller in rank. You… love him, dearly. He means the world to you… and yet you are… Afraid.” They paused, feeling the ball. “But you’re not afraid of him, are you?” They chuckled.

“N-no. I never have been.” I nodded. “I’m… really, tired of everyone else. They’re mad because—“

“You’re a woman.” Their grip tightened on my hand. “You are afraid of them because you are a woman in their ranks.”

“No?” I squinted. She smiled, her eyes seemingly meeting mine.

“I can see your past… You are running away from it.”

“I am not!” I pulled my hand away, folding my arms. “I--They’re jealous of my skill! I’m the greatest of any legionnaire!” I stood up, smoothing my skirt. “I.. I’m sorry. I’ll return when I’m… calmer.” I said flatly, walking out of the tent and sitting on the ground to the left of it, burying my face in my hands. I heard them sigh, mumbling to themself and shuffling to sit back down.

“Fortune will find you… Please, don’t ever lose hope.”


	7. SPEECH MASTER

  
_[ would you lie with me and just forget the world? ]_  
[snow patrol - chasing cars]  
-[]-

Two men were standing outside the dinosaur’s foot as we made our way into Novac; the two glaring at each other as one tried to make small talk.

“Look, I—“

“Out of my way.” The other man growled, pushing the first man onto the ground and walking inside. John and I walked up to the first man, John helping him up as he let out a heavy, tired sigh.

“Y-you okay?” John mumbled. “H-He seemed pretty u-upset.”

“Nah, I’m fine…” He dusted himself off, looking up at the dinosaur’s head. “Boone’s just… like that, these days. I’ve been tryin’ to make amends but it… doesn’t seem like he’s much for talking anymore.” He shrugged. “I guess trying isn’t on the menu.”

“We’re looking for someone.” I said, shrugging. “Have you seen uhh… A man, checkered suit, had a couple of….” I looked at John.

“Gr-great Khans.” He said firmly. “R-Raiders, remember?”

I shrugged, but the man nodded. “Yeah, I think I saw somethin’ like that…” He looked at us, then behind him, towards the west. “I can give you more details… if you help us with a problem of our own.”

I chuckled in a low voice, leaning against him and gesturing out towards the wastes. “My good sir… I can tell by your voice; you’re tired of that other schmuck’s abuse. You’re a sad, neglected kinda guy… and you need an adventure to spice things up.”

He blinked slowly, mulling it over as John turned his attention towards me; his face took on a look of hilarious bewilderment and shocked amusement as the man stepped away from me, nodding in agreement.

“Yeah… Yeah, I think you’re right.” He nodded, pausing. “Wait, uhh… I never. We never introduced each other—I’m Manny.” He held out his hand, chuckling.

“Dexter.” I took it, shaking it firmly. “The guy over there is John, my boyfriend.”

“S-Sup.” He mumbled, waving. “I. uh… I can h-help with that th-thing you need help with, if it’s s-something important.”

Manny nodded, walking over to him. “That’d actually be pretty handy; I can tell Dexter here about what I saw, while you help take care of it.” He turned his head, pointing off to the west. “Over at the REPCONN test site. We’ve been using it to get resources for ages, but lately… there’s been a bit of a Ghoul problem, and we can’t get in. Get the ghouls out and I’ll make it worth your while… with, you know, half of the rest of Novac.”

John nodded, putting a hand on his hip and putting his fist on his chest. “C-Count on me, I’ll h-handle it.”

“No fucking the Ghouls this time, got it?” I smirked as he turned to me, blue cheeks turning a ashy indigo as he blushed. “See, that’s the guilty blush I missed seeing…”

“I DO NOT FUCK GHOULS!” His voice reached a frightening new volume as he shot a murderglare at me. It reminded me of back home, honestly; he’d only ever reached that octave one other time after a nasty incident with several Radscorpions… and a Mini Nuke, but that wasn’t nearly the issue here.

“I know, I know…” I snickered. “Liar.”

“Liar schmiar! I don’t see you walking around going ‘Hu-de-du, my boyfriend sleeps with weird mutated creatures!’” He rolled his eyes, slugging my shoulder. I ruffled his hair, leaning down to whisper in his ear.

“Because you know I’m a better lay than anything else you’ve wrapped your legs around.” I purred, grinning as his face turned even grayer than before. His hands hit his face, myself catching his death-glare from between his fingers.

“N-Never speak like that again. At least n-not in public.” He grumbled, face practically glowing.

“I only do it because I love you.” I chuckled, gently pulling his hand away to kiss his forehead. He rolled his eyes, giving me a playful shove as I kept holding his hand, taking him with me and pulling him into a hug. “C’mon, nerd, we’ve got work to do.”

“What, we?” He looked up, raising an eyebrow curiously. “I thought you were gonna go schmooze with Manny while I lay the smackdown on some Ghouls.”

“Then yoooou better get going before I keep you trapped here in my arms bein’ all cute n’ shit.” I grinned, laughing as he hopped up to give me a smooch. “See? That’s not gonna help your case.”

“Hey, it doesn’t need to.” He ducked, wiggling out of my arms and grinning. “Because even when I do leave, I always find my way back.”

“That’s pretty gay, Johnny.” I rolled my eyes playfully. “You sure you’re not… _a big, gay, dork_?”

John started laughing, tiny snorts leaving him as he grabbed his stomach. “Oh, you’re one to talk!” He took a deep breath, tiny giggles escaping as he tried to calm himself. “R-Right. I’m gonna… I’ll head out to REPCONN, get that handled. You two do your talking; I’ll meet you back here at the dinosaur, okay?”

I nodded. “Sounds good.”

John nodded back, blowing me a kiss as he turned around and jogged away. I sighed, folding my arms and shaking my head… God, with how long he’d been gone… with how little I remembered…

I forgot just how much I _loved_ that goofy motherfucker.


	8. STALLED OUT

  
_[ you don't have to follow me ]_  
[living colour - cult of personality]  
-[]-

“Lots of Feral Ghouls are in the area. Do you have a ranged weapon?” Sneaky said softly as I crouched behind a chunk of rubble. She was always making sure I was prepared – kind of like a mom, except I wore her, and also she didn’t feed me all that often. It was mostly shoving undiluted Med-X into my veins.

“I’ve got the Sonic Emitter, remember?” I said, holding it up with a smirk. “They gave it to me before we met.”

“Oh… that’s true. My memory is limited, so I have to delete older memories… I guess that’s called… ‘forgetting’?” She asked cautiously. I nodded, peeking my head up and observing the ghouls.

“Yeah, forgetting.” I fumbled with the emitter, switching the mode from Revelation to Robo-Scorpion. “Don’t make a noise, okay? Need… to get… my bearings.” I focused, staring down the sights and taking aim. She chirped, time seemingly slowing down as I felt a needle poke through my shoulder.

“Turbo applied. Good luck.” She whispered, going quiet as I nodded. She knew me so well… I pulled the trigger, the sound distorted as it slowly engulfed the crowd of ghouls, one exploding and igniting the others. I rolled out from behind the rubble, blasting the remaining ferals and making my way into the building.

I knelt behind an upturned table, lifting my arm up. Unsurprisingly, my Pip-Boy glittered to life. The display was dimmer than most, to account for the fact I have the photosensitivity of a baby stood directly on the Sun’s gaseous surface. To sum: It was kind of fucking awful being outside for longer than an hour. Mumbling to myself, I pressed a button I manually added to the bottom three buttons, wincing as I felt the initial effects of the Stealth Boy.

It wasn’t a comfortable experience, but it was an experience. I waddled around the ferals, looking around for any sign of… Anything, when I heard the intercom crackle to life.

“You, get over here!” The being on the other side barked. My head snapped over, raising an eyebrow. “Go to the big room. East side. Take the metal staircase all the way up… and hurry.”

I slid my body up against the wall, putting a shaky hand on the cold concrete.

“You’re shaking like mad… Do you want some Steady?” Sneaky asked quietly. “I have some armed and ready for injection.”

“N-No. It’s just nerves, Sneaks…” I smiled reassuringly. “D-Don’t worry about it; I’ll tell you if I need anything.”

“Okay! He wanted you to go upstairs… Marker set. Check your Pip-Boy if you get lost.” She chirped. I couldn’t help but smile… it’s weird, trusting a suit made of neuralkinetic materials… but hey! It was a good look for someone like me.

I slinked along the wall, pulling open a door and rolling up the stairs, knocking a feral down the stairs with an indignant growl. Shrugging, I ran along the upper floor, dodging and punching the other ghouls and applying Stealth Boys as needed – before entering a big room made of concrete with two big staircases.

I clambered up the staircase, sticking a hand on the intercom in front of the metal door at the top. “N-Now what?”

“I’m letting you in, smoothskin. Watch yourself – I’ll sure as hell be watching you.”

I rolled my eyes, hearing the door unlock as I pushed it open, coming face-to-face with not a ghoul… but another human. Who promptly dry heaved and looked at me with the same amount of shock and disgust as a mother watching a Yao Guai steal her basket of human eggs. Whatever, I wasn’t the prettiest motherfucker, no big deal.

“S-So.”

“God, you’re ugly!” He gagged. “Just go upstairs and talk to Jason before I throw up for _real._”

“W-Were you that ghoul from--?”

“OF COURSE I was the GHOUL from the INTERCOM!” he groaned. “Great, you’re ugly AND stupid? What a catch.”

“L-Listen, s-smartass.” I cleared my throat, folding my arms and locking eyes with him. He had about half a foot on me, but I could still burrow into his eyes with my slimy sight orbs. “You try getting chucked off a Vertibird as an infant, only to land in a cave full of toddlers who don’t know shit about dick, only to grow up and get the boot because you were too smart a motherfucker – And then, and _then,_ you break into a Vault hoping to find people, and it’s just CRABS! My mother was a LOBSTER, for YEARS! And I **STILL** BECAME A SCIENTIFIC GENIUS! There’s a fucking SCIENCE. To being a CRAB. CHILD. I was a PRODIGY among the hatchlings!”

The man blinked slowly, looking at me with a fear only rivalled by a Vault overseer realising he’s about to get shot in half. I smirked, hopping away and asking another of the Ghouls – an _actual_ ghoul this time – where Jason was and what he looked like. She led me over to him, bowing as she walked away.

He looked over at me and smiled sweetly. “Hello, wanderer.” He said. His voice was… something else, like a chorus of highly-irradiated angels. “Please, forgive us of our humble surroundings…”

“N-no, it’s fine.” I scratched the back of my neck, my face growing suspiciously warm – I hoped it was radiation. “It’s a nice enough place. You’re… Jason, right? The one the other human told me to see?”

He chuckled softly. “Ah, you must mean Chris.” He let out a soft sigh. “I suppose you’ve tried to tell him too. We did too, when he first arrived – but he did not hear us. I suspect it was the Creator’s way of saying we needed him…”

“I suppose… What did you need me for?”

“My flock and I are preparing for a journey to the Far Beyond.” He smiled, looking at me with a serene expression not usually seen on ghouls… and certainly not glowing ghouls like him. “We were making great progress… but then the demons showed up in the basement and halted everything – We had to hide up here on the second floor for our safety.” He looked at me, expression shifting to one of sorrow. “Please, wanderer…”

“Just call me John.” I chuckled, waving a hand nonchalantly.

“Please… _John._ Help us eliminate the demons. Help us get to the Far Beyond.” He pleaded, putting a hand on my shoulder. “Myself and the flock will thank you dearly.”


	9. DEMON HUNTING

  
__  
[toby fox - field of hopes and dreams]  
-[]-

“I can sense mutant activity in the basement.” Sneaky whispered as Jason sent me on my way. Her detection lined up with what he’d told me – the “demons” were in the basement… so logically we’d have to go there and do some exorcising.

I hate exercise. I trudged my way back down the stairs, stealthing up when I got to the bottom to avoid the ferals again as I made my way over to the basement, opening the door and sneaking inside. Immediately, and I should have expected this, I was greeted with two Glowing Ones staring me down, snarling with assumed rage at the little fat gremlin that had just appeared before them. I ducked, running past them as they gave chase.

I turned around to shoot them, but not before a giant purple mutant shimmered into existence, whacking them into each other and killing both of them. I rolled, sliding against the wall and activating another Stealth Boy before the thing could notice me. That… must have been one of the demons that Jason mentioned.

“That was a Nightkin!” Sneaky whispered. “At least… according to my… research banks…”

“No, that’s… really good to know.” I whispered back. “What else can you tell me?”

“They’re pretty rare to find, being sterile and created as the most elite of The Master’s army.” She chirped as we made our way down the hall. “They’re a subset of Super Mutants, basically.”

“So just as strong… except they’re purple and can turn invisible. Cool.” I sighed, making my way down into a large area, a grate serving as the ceiling as we were surrounded by doors. Most of the doors were unlocked, barring one… and of course, I couldn’t pick it. I sighed, looking up to see a Nightkin uncloak, looking around. He’d obviously heard me…

Time to improvise, I thought. I ran over to the locked door, shoving the barrels next to it onto the floor. The noise drilled its way through my ears, which sucked – but it would get our little-but-also-fucking-massive friend downstairs. And, with any luck, he’d have the key. He ran down the stairs, looking for the source of the barrels’ pain. I charged in front of him, punching him repeatedly until his face became a fine red mist… And, of course, grabbing the key from his strange cloth… kilt, thing.

I opened the door, looking around. More doors. I ran to each one, looking for more of the stupid Nightkin, but not before tripping on a Ghoul’s corpse, bashing my face into another barrel.

“Ah! Do you need anything?” Sneaky asked, voice oscillating in worry. “You took mild physics damage.”

“No, I’ll live.” I chuckled, rubbing my cheek and standing up. Kicking the corpse onto its back, I looked at its outfit… It was one of Jason’s friends. Shame, really… “Do you think?” I asked Sneaky, looking at the ground.

“The Nightkin probably imprisoned her in here.” Sneaky trilled sadly. “We should keep moving, and keep eliminating the Nightkin. You could turn her robe into bandages.”

“Good idea.” I nodded, grabbing her robe as I left the room, making my way up the stairs, looking around and running through the halls again, killing any Nightkin I ran across. It was really just busywork, occasionally luring the mutants to help me kill some of the Ghouls that would chase me.

I ran into a Nightkin as it uncloaked, raising its sledgehammer into the air. I yelled, turning around.. only to see another Nightkin raise_ its_ hammer. I looked up, jumping up and clinging to the ceiling as the two of them caved each other’s’ skulls in, both of them falling dead to the floor.

To hell with it, I’ll just cling to the ceiling and chuck grenades down. I wiggled, sliding along the halls and looking around – nothing could really hit me up here. I slid down a tilted set of pipes over some stairs, hopping down and picking the lock on the door, only to be met with gunfire.

“Come and get it, you big dumb—“ He stopped, looking down at me. “Wait… you’re not one of those things. Who the hell are you?”

“N-Name’s John.” I squinted. “J-Jason sent m-me to b-blast the Nightk-kin down here.”

“Ah…” He chuckled. “Smarmy bastard told you it was the creator’s will for you to risk his ass rather than his, right?”

I rolled my eyes, shrugging. “H-Hey, I-I could do w-with the e-extra ex-experience.” I said with a laugh. “Wh-Why are you down here a-anyway?”

He grumbled. “I-I went down here with a friend. We got ambushed by these mutant bastards… and she panicked and ran the wrong way, further into the basement.” He looked down at me. “I’d rather not leave without her.”

“…Well…” I looked at the wall.

“I’m sorry.” Sneaky blooped. “We found another one of the Bright ghouls on our way here… She was already dead.”

The ghoul blinked, raising a hairless eyebrow. “Voice change aside… Ratty hair, Bright robe, fine ass?”

I half-choked, fighting back an impulsive joke that would surely get me killed. “W-Well, two out of three isn’t bad!”

“We have her robe in our inventory—“

“You WHAT?!” He held the gun up again, glaring. “Why?”

“T-To be fair, w-we didn’t k-know s-she was… Y-Yours?” I let out a nervous chuckle. “P-Please don’t shoot I-I’m n-not exactly b-bulletproof h-here, haha…”

I would have been screwed, had we not been ambushed by yet more Nightkin.

“Sn-Sneaky…”

“John?”

“Slasher.”

She chirped as I felt the needle hit my shoulder, the rush burning through me… More power, more defense… It was time to bash some heads in.

Several Nightkin came in from the ground floor, I did some tricks, hopping onto boxes and shooting them, watching in a strange sort of delight as one ignited others in a great, incendiary chain reaction. The ghoul was having troubles with Nightkin on the upper floors, so I jumped up from the boxes and lit those ones up, too. By the time they were dead though… the ghoul had vanished. I suppose he decided to make a run upstairs. For the best, at least.

We made our way out of the room, turning and running directly into a Nightkin. He uncloaked, picking me up by the neck and breathing his rancid breath right into my face.

“Antler says… you are the one killing our kin. Antler says… YOU MUST DIE!” He roared, throwing me against the wall. I saw stars for a brief second, shaking my head and charging him with my PowerFist. He moved out of the way, knocking me upside the head with his weapon… I hit the ground, everything going black.

When I snapped back awake, all I really saw was… black boots, blue pants… and a pile of ash.

“Sneaky sent out a rescue beacon.” I heard the familiar, soft-but-determined (if a bit vague) British accent… my heart swelled with relieved, albeit somewhat embarrassed, pride as he held out a gloved hand.

“D-Dex…” I whispered, hazily taking his hand as he helped me to my feet. “Y-You’re… where’s your coat?”

“Left it back at the dinosaur.” He chuckled, shrugging. “Manny’s got it, I basically saw the beacon pop up on my Pip-Boy and lept out of Dinky’s mouth.”

I laughed, looking up at him. “And what did it cost you?”

“Only a couple stimpaks.” He rolled his eyes, scooping me into a hug… and jamming a Stimpak into the back of my neck. “And one more, since it didn’t seem like you had any left.”

“Sneaks probably used the last of them trying to keep me alive until you showed up.” I mumbled, legs a bit wobbly as he put me down. “R-Right…” I nodded. “Let’s get the rest of these bastards and see what else Jason needs—“

“Jason?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. Oh, right – he didn’t know about the ghouls upstairs.

“I’ll explain as we make our way back up to him.” I chuckled, stumbling back into his arms. “M-Maybe… you should carry me.” I bleated as he rolled his eyes, scooping me back up like an infant. “Sorry…”

“Don’t sweat it.” He laughed softly. “I could do with the exercise.”


	10. POWER ON

  
  
[toby fox - field of hopes and dreams]  
-[]-

“So, Sneaky – how did you know who to send the alert to?” I asked as we made our way out of the basement. She trilled questionably, settling on a sad whistle.

“Well, truthfully, I didn’t.” She admitted. “Not knowing Dexter’s direct frequency on his Pip-Boy, I was forced to use a somewhat blunderbuss attempt to get anyone’s attention. But hey – it seemed to work!”

“For better or worse.” Dex said with a chuckle. “Sure, I broke a few legs and John nearly had his head caved in… but I think we made out just fine.” He looked over at me, raising an eyebrow. “So… About this Jason guy?”

“Oh! He asked me to clear out the Nightkin down in the basement. I got… most of ‘em, before you popped in.” I said with an nod as we made our way into the research labs. Chris, predictably, started gagging.

“Oh great, _two_ gross-looking freaks. If you’re done, go bother Jason about it….” He growled. I watched Dex ball his fist, glaring at him as I quietly shuffled the two of us away towards Jason.

“Is the way clear?” He asked, seemingly appearing behind us and making us jump. “My flock is getting antsy, knowing the Journey is so close…”

“Yeah, I took care of it. My boyfriend helped.” I said, scratching the back of my neck with a nervous grin on my face. “The uh, ‘demons’ are gone.”

A great big smile broke across his face as he took my hands, the radioactive warmth creeping up my arms. “Praise the creator!” He said with glee – if his eyes could, they’d probably be playing up the crocodile tears… “And bless you, wanderer- wander_ers!_ The way is clear… I will lead my flock through the basement, to the sacred site!” He let me go, excitedly jogging over to the door. “And I hope you’ll find us there, wanderers – there’s much to be done.” He chuckled, blowing me a kiss as the other ghouls (and Chris) ambled their way out of the room and down towards the basement.

Dexter, wordlessly, looked at me and raised an eyebrow. “Never thought you’d—“

“Don’t. Say. A word.” I put a single finger in the air, fighting back laughter (and Dex’s inevitable teasing…) “Nothing happened.”

“Hey, frankly, I’d be impressed if you actually managed to get busy with a Glowing One.” He laughed, taking my hand and jogging out after the ghouls. “If only because surely that amount of radiation is bad enough to be around, but having it _penetrate_ you would—“

“Can we not discuss the logistics of fucking radioactive beings?” I rolled my eyes, playfully whacking him upside the head. “Yeah, it’d be bad for my health, but imagine how_ warm_ that’d feel!”

“Sure, warm, if you _like_ getting your hoo-hah cooked by a radioactive disco stick.” He rolled his eyes right back, slowing his pace as we got closer to the shuffling crowd. The amount of Ghouls around us… It was kind of terrifying. Dex seemed to sense my anxiety spiking up, and knelt down so I could hop onto his back.

I felt like a kid. Didn’t matter, though – it made me feel safe and gave Dex some much-needed exercise. We followed the crowd through the halls, Dex and I looking around the large pipe and slowing our pace.

“Bit familiar, huh?” Dex joked. I could tell he was struggling, at least a bit. “You and I, getting Li and the others over to the Citadel…”

“Hey, deep breaths.” I said reassuringly, resting my chin on his head. “I’m here. I got you.”

“Th-thank you.” For once, Dex was the one floundering and stammering… poor dude. “You… still want me to carry you?”

“…Nah, I got it.” I slid off his back, taking his hand. “Stay in the now, Dex. I got you.”

A smile made its way across his face as we resumed walking down the hall. “God, I love you…” He whispered, hugging me tightly as we started jogging to catch up to the others. It didn’t take long to finally arrive in the same room as everyone else, Jason waiting for us in front of the launch pad.

“I wanted to speak with you one last time… before I descended to the launch pad.” He said, folding his arms. “John, right?” He asked as I nodded. “…I want you to know that we will remember, for _all eternity,_ just how much you helped us. You brought us here – delivered us to the threshold of the Great Journey. However… Though our preparations are nearly complete, and the rockets look pristine… they are yet missing vital components.”

I nodded. “What’s missing?”

“Speak to Chris. He can explain the rest… I must go down to the flock now. And… thank you. For everything.” He said with a soft smile, walking away. I sighed. Cool, _more_ dealing with Chris.

He walked up to us, surprisingly in a more tolerable fashion. “Jason says we need to work together to successfully launch the Great Journey.” He half-grumbled. “I was almost done with the rockets before we were chased to the top floor… so they’re still missing a couple parts.”

“How can we help?” Dex asked. Chris looked up at him, raising an eyebrow.

“Well. We’re missing a quantity of Isotope-239 igniting agent, and a set of thrust control modules.” He said, looking at me in confusion. “Which I suppose makes gathering both easier… since there’s two of you now?”

“H-he’s my boyfriend.” I said with a nervous chuckle as Dexter waved. Chris nodded… hopefully in understanding.

“Ah.” He nodded flatly. “Right… The igniting agent is highly reactive, and decays quickly – we can’t use the drums that leaked on the launch pad since they’ve already decayed.”

I nodded. “So we’d need a sealed, probably shielded container of the stuff.” I replied, Sneaky chirping.

“I detected an alarming quantity of Isotope-239 in the vicinity of Dinky.” She blooped. “Maybe we can use something in there.”

Chris shrugged. “Don’t care how you find it, so long as you do.” He looked up at Dex. “I suppose that leaves you to collect the thrust control modules.”

“Should be easy.” He said, Chris scoffing in response.

“Easy? They’re custom-built for these rockets – they won’t launch without them. You’d better have the luck of a god if you think it’s gonna be ‘easy.’” He said, rolling his eyes.

“Yeah, whatever.” I chuckled. “Right! Dex, you’ll get the thrust controller thingies. I’ll get the igniting agent. Sound good?”

He nodded, giving me a thumbs-up. “So long as you don’t get bonked on the noggin again, that sounds great.”


	11. BLASTOFF!

  
  
[flight of the valkyries]  
-[]-

We met up outside the testing site a few hours later, each carrying our respective loot. Dex was, probably the more sensible one here, seeing as he only had two sets of control modules… while I had a pillowcase full of toy rockets.

“Where did you get all of _those?_” Dex raised an eyebrow as I shrugged, rolling my shoulder and adjusting how I was carrying the thing. “Please tell me that’s a _sealed_ pillowcase?”

“100 individually-sealed toy rockets… Eh, ‘purchased’ from Cliff.” I growled, huffing. It was… a bit heavy, I’ll admit. “M-More than enough to get those things off the ground.”

Dex nodded, walking slower into the building as I hobbled behind him, the two of us making our way through the halls and down into the basement again. It was strangely quiet, the walk down to where Chris was waiting no longer having nightkin (or even ferals) to worry about… Was nice to catch a break, at least.

Chris nodded at us as we came into the room, the two of us handing him what we’d collected. He looked over the thrust modules carefully, picking up one of the rocket toys with his hand. “The toys seem impractical… but five of these should have enough to power both rockets. You two get out onto the launch deck.”

We nodded, me taking Dex’s hand as we made our way out, up the stairs and through to the launch deck. The dome where the rockets were didn’t look nearly as expansive from out here…

“Hey, look.” Dex pointed at the control console as I stood in front of the launch button. “Their course is a bit off…” His fingers tapped against the console, whistling a tune to himself as he adjusted the course. “There. It’s not much, but I managed to net them a 12.5% more accurate course.”

I nodded, pushing the button. The dome slowly opened, revealing the two rockets from before; they immediately shot into the air, one taking a bit longer and nearly crashing into us. Truthfully, it was sort of magical watching the ghouls soar away like that.

Dex looked at me and nodded, giving a quiet thumbs up. I nodded back. “And that’s that favour done. Did you get anything out of Manny?”

“Not really. He was about to tell me before I backflipped out of Dinky’s mouth.” Dex chuckled, shrugging. “We’d need to go back there anyway; no way I’m running around in _just_ a Vault suit and gloves.

We made our way through the building again, looking up at the rocket in the courtyard as we left the test site once and for all. It didn’t seem so big anymore, now that I’d seen the real rockets.

It took us a bit to return to Novac, but Manny was waiting outside the dinosaur’s foot, by the door. Must have been the end of his shift…

“Oh, hey, you guys are back.” He said, waving. He had Dex’s labcoat draped over his other arm, like a butler wearing a necklace made of teeth. “Here, I’ve got your coat.”

Dex nodded, taking it and quickly throwing it back on, tugging at the collar of it and winking at me… He was _making_ me blush, the fucker! I stuck my tongue out at him and he stuck his out back, Manny rolling his eyes as we returned to looking at him.

“Right. So, you and I need to finish our little chat.” Dex said, raising an eyebrow and smirking. Manny chuckled, nodding.

“And you’re not going to jump headfirst out of my bedroom window, right?”

“Of course not. Unless John gets hit on the head again.”

“I’m not counting on it!” I quipped, laughing.

We walked over to the hotel, Manny inviting us into his room. Dex leaned against a wall while I sort of lumbered in the doorway like a confused molerat. Manny chuckled, sitting on the couch with a casual thud. “Right, so those Khans you mentioned…” He looked at Dex, who nodded. “They were on their way to Boulder City, last I’d heard.”

“And as for the guy in the suit I’d asked about?”

“Dunno.” Manny shrugged. “Could be with them still, could not.”

“So we need to head to Boulder City next.” I looked at Dex. “Think you can manage?”

“Yeah… we can leave in the morning.” Dex looked over at Manny. “Is there a free room in the hotel?”

“You’d have to ask Jeannie, but eh – You guys can stay the night here.” Manny shrugged. “I’ve got a spare mattress, just… y’know.”

“Yeah, nothing’s gonna happen.” Dex reassured him. “We can sleep together without _sleeping_ together.” He said slyly, eying me. I responded by sticking out my tongue and raising my powerfist.

“Good deal.” Manny got up, sighing softly. “Right. Uhh… I guess make yourselves at home, least for now. I’m gonna head on a walk, get some air.”

Dex and I nodded as he walked out, myself haplessly flomping down face-first onto the mattress. Dex laid down a bit softer next to me, casually wrapping his arms around my shoulders.

“Tomorrow… guess we get going once and for all, huh?” I mumbled, leaning against Dex. He chuckled, softly running his fingers through my hair… it always felt wonderful with him being cuddly like this.

“Yeah.” He sighed. “Even if that Benny dude isn’t with them still… we’re closer than ever. And that’s… actually kind of a relief.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Knowing we might be able to finally blast _his _brain to high hell.” He chuckled, grip quietly tightening around me – Not in a threatening way. He was more… relaxed. Eager to resolve this. It hadn’t even been that long since Dex and I set out on all of this… and it feels like we’re stepping ass-first into something bigger. Or at least… that was my hunch.

Guess we’d know when it happened.


	12. DOING WHAT'S RIGHT

  
_[ better run, here we come ]_  
[hollywood undead - day of the dead]  
-[]-

I woke up a while later, holding John like a big muscle-chubby teddy bear. Nice. The sun was only barely starting to rise, slight cracks of sunlight peeking from the doorframe. John was still asleep, but he’d probably wake up bright and alert within the hour. I slowly wriggled my arm out from under him, sitting up and stretching… It wasn’t the best sleep, but hey. It was _sleep,_ and that alone was rare enough, especially for poor John.

Sure enough, within a few minutes of me getting up, he was already sat up and rubbing the sleepiness out of his eyes. His gaze drifted over to me, a sleepy smile across his face as he mumbled something lovingly incoherent.

“Ready to go?” I asked softly as he stood, a tiny squeak of a yawn leaving him as he nodded. He waddled over to me, quietly taking my hand as I pushed the door open; the two of us looking around and walking along the road.

We arrived outside Boulder City as the sun shined overhead, our shadows barely visible as we were stopped by an NCR soldier.

“I can’t let you through right now.” He said, stress poking at his formal tone. “We’re dealing with a situation involving the Great Khans at the moment; the brass at McCarran has ordered me to lock down the ruins. No one goes in.”

“What’s the situation?” I immediately asked, looking at John – quietly hoping it didn’t involve the Khans we needed to talk to. “I might be able to help.”

“They’re being held hostage.” He shook his head. “They came under fire on the way back from Novac. Radioed for help… but instead of waiting for us, they chased the Khans into the ruins and got caught in a crossfire. Nobody’s died yet, but not all of the squad is out either. They have two of my privates.”

“Y-your privates, huh?” John snickered as I glared at him. “Okay, okay, _sorry_… hehe.”

“I might be able to cut a deal with them.” I said. “I think I might be able to solve this diplomatically.”

“Normally, I’d turn you down, not knowing who either of you are and all… But if we attack, the hostages are as good as dead.” He nodded, looking at me. “All right. I’ll give you a chance to talk to them. You need to look for a man named Jessup; he’s their leader.”

“Consider it done.” I nodded back, smiling confidently. “Let’s get this handled, ah?”

John nodded, grinning as I pushed open the gate, the two of us quietly entering the ruins. The Khans (and the hostages) looked at us rather strangely as we looked around, using John’s Pip-Boy to find our way around.

“Sneaky can pinpoint most things in an area and mark them on my map, based on voice.” John said eagerly as we paused to check the map. “Mark the Hostages for me.”

“Done and done!” She booped, the little white flags on the map jumping from one of the doors to the two heads. “Biological signs and… _scientific_ guessitmation yields these two are your NCR hostages.”

“Cool. Return the focus to Jessup, could you?” John grinned as the flag shifted to the door again, jogging up and opening it. I followed not far behind him, stopping as the man in the middle stood in shock, colour draining from his face.

“You… You’re supposed to be dead.” He glared.

“Look, I couldn’t even do it right. How could I rely on anyone _else_ to kill me?” I said, maybe a bit smug, as I put my hands on the counter, locking eyes with him. “You must be Jessup.”

“And you’re… You’re that courier Benny wasted.” He mumbled. “What do you want.”

“I wanna know where the Platinum Chip went.” I sighed. “Clearly, Benny’s not with you anymore. Does he have it?”

“Damn snake stole it, right before he stabbed us in the back. Should have known the caps were too good to be true, but I bet now he’s back at the strip, _laughing_ at us.” Jessup leaned against the wall, not breaking eye contact with me.

“I think we can reach a deal that we both benefit from, then.” I chuckled, standing up straight. “Let these hostages go. I’ll convince the NCR to escort the Khans out freely… and then, once I’m done here, I’ll haul my happy ass to the Strip and give Benny a piece of _both_ of our minds.” I leaned forward again, putting my chin in my hand and grinning. “Sound good?”

He sighed, leaning down and looking at me. “I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this. But... all right. The hostages can go – the NCR better keep their end of the deal.” He pulled something out of his pocket, a lighter. “Here. Benny’s lighter. Shove it up his ass when you catch up with him – for both of us.”

“Will do.” I chuckled, slipping the lighter in my pocket. “I’ll talk to the soldiers outside, convince them to do the right thing.”

We walked back outside, John nodding at me as I looked at the man. “They’ve agreed to let the hostages go, but only if you also let them go free.”

“Well… that’s a bit of a tough situation. I’ve got orders from on high to kill them regardless.” The soldier sighed, looking at the gate to the ruins.

“Sir?” John stood up straight, looking at him. He turned his head, looking at the orb of determination that was my boyfriend. “They’ve done this to ensure they live another day. And in exchange, they’re setting your men free and allowing _them_ to live another day. You should do the right thing. Are you gonna mindlessly follow orders from on high, stabbing these men that are trusting you with _their_ lives in the back? Or… are you going to find it in your soul to help the Khans go free, at least for today?”

The soldier looked at him, thinking about it slowly… and then nodding. “Right. I’ll…. I’ll honor the deal. You two be on your way; we’ll escort the Khans out of the ruins.”

John nodded confidently, taking my hand and leading us away, a happier spring in his step.

“How the hell did you pull that off?” I raised an eyebrow curiously. “You’ve got the charisma of a garden gnome.”

“Garden gnomes can be very charismatic, with the right amount of chems.” He grinned, looking back at me with a smirk. “C’mon, we need to get to the Strip.”

I nodded, smiling. “Let’s roll.”


	13. THE EASIEST WAY IN

  
_[ with blind eyes open wide (i'm seein it) ]_  
[godsmack - unforgettable]  
-[]-

“The last time we were on the Strip…” John put a hand on his chin as we walked, closing his eyes in thought. “We had passports, I think. We helped someone, and the Securitrons guarding the gate let us in easy.”

“So we should be able to get in fine?” I tilted my head, looking down at him. He chuckled, squawking rather awkwardly as he tripped, stumbling without quite falling over. I caught his arm as he shook his head, sighing. “I… Guess not, then?”

“Not really. They were sort of a one-time use passport… mainly because they were pretty obvious fakes. And it was about three years ago?” He chuckled. “We’d have to find another way in.”

“Shouldn’t be too hard. What’s in the area?”

“Freeside, McCarran…” He looked over at me. “Let’s try Freeside. McCarran’s the big boy zone for the NCR, and I don’t feel like having to explain myself to a bunch of paperwork.”

“That’s a valid reason as any, I guess.” I chuckled, shrugging. “Anything in Freeside you know of that I can’t?”

“Well! We’ve got a couple connections in Freeside – Our very first job was in that area!” He chirped, straightening up into an excited strut. “We had a Very Important and Extremely Discreet bit of tat.”

“Do you remember anything about the uhhh, recipient…?” I squinted slightly.

“Well, yeah. He looked kind of nervous, really, like he didn’t want people to find out what was in the package…” He snickered. “Musta been… _private_, I wager.”

“…You’re taking us through Freeside to embarrass him, aren’t you?” I glared. He shook his head, waving his arms defensively.

“No, no no! You’ve got me completely wrong!” He rolled his eyes, folding his arms and sticking his tongue out. “He’d said before he’d help us out with something if we ended up in the area again.”

“So we’re cashing in on a years-old favour, and you think he’s gonna remember?”

“He promised.”

My hand unceremoniously hit my face, sliding down with the slow embodied passion of a cynical sloth. John chuckled nervously, shrugging as we kept making our way along the road.

The sky was dark as we walked toward the illuminated gate, looking around. Nobody was around, nor cared to appear as we pushed open the gate, walking into Freeside.

There wasn’t much around, just the occasional thugs chasing each other around and swearing incessantly as we walked along the roads. The other people gave us strange looks – sort of expected, given I still look like I crawled out of the Vault and John looks like he shouldn’t even be alive…

“So… where are we gonna settle for the night?” I looked over at John, who smirked and took my hand.

“I know a place. C’mon.” He grinning, jogging ahead and half dragging me behind him, skidding to a stop a few minutes later, me bumping into his back.

“…So…?” I looked at him, glancing at the sign.

“This is the Old Mormon… oh, nevermind.” He pointed at the ground by the door. “They probably won’t let us in this early in the morning, but we can camp out front without too much trouble.”

I nodded, the two of us sitting down and leaning against the wall, John cuddling up close to me. I couldn’t help but smile, softly brushing stray hairs away as i gently kissed his forehead. He looked up at me with a soft smile, burying himself closer to me as I slowly pet his hair, eyelids growing heavy as we cuddled…

Before I knew it, John was asleep, and I wasn’t too far behind him…

I don’t know why, but I dreamt of Megaton. My old home there; a life with John, living as best we could’ve out in the Capital Wasteland…

Part of me is glad we got out of there, but a tiny part of me always wished we could’ve settled down. Maybe if the circumstances were different; maybe if the old me didn’t die to save the wastes.

Ah well, no sense in dwelling on the past, right? That was why we came west; to reinvent ourselves in a way we really couldn’t back in DC. He was a Lamplighter, I was a vault dweller; we couldn’t be any more different if we’d tried. And yet… here we were. There he was, in my arms. In my dream, we’d… _he_ had danced with me. I think we might have been in a vault. Whether it was Vault 101 or Vault 92 eludes me, but… we definitely had a wonderful dance.

When we finally woke up, the sun was shining bright over my head. I rubbed my… eye, looking around – John was gone. I guess he couldn’t get me to wake up earlier, maybe went inside… the, uh… wall. Still can’t remember anything, ah well.

“…And then when I arrived, he was basically already sat at the reaper’s tea party.” I heard John’s voice drift towards me. Surprisingly, he wasn’t stuttering at all. I don’t think he flubbed his words once, aside from his perpetual lisp. “I followed the Securitron over to the doctor’s house, and helped with the surgery… but he was still out for a few days – and comatose, to boot.” He sighed. “It wasn’t a fun week… but he’s okay now! Even if he doesn’t remember anything from around here, or anything we did before I left, or…”

“Don’t worry about it.” I heard another man’s voice – About the same range as John’s, but a different intonation. More bored, like he was more used to being the quiet one in the back of the operation. “Sounds like it’s a miracle he even woke back up, based on the story you told me.”

“I’m proud of him.” John laughed, opening the gate and walking outside. It was almost comedic, the height difference between him and the person he was talking to. “OH! Dex!” He grinned, gesturing to the other man. “I found him!”

“…Congrats…?” I tilted my head. “I don’t know him.”

“Oh… Ohhhh, right!” John smacked his forehead, shoulders sagging. “Nice going, John, completely forgetting your boyfriend has a case of fucking _brain shooty disease_ and can’t remember anything about—right! Yeah!” He looked at me, pointing behind him at the other guy. “This is Arcade. He’s the guy I mentioned earlier before we entered Freeside.”

He gave me a little wave. “Dexter, right?”

“Yeah.” I waved back, standing up. “Nice… to meet you again, I guess?” I shrugged. “Like I’m sure he’s told you, I can’t remember anything up until waking up… what, a week ago?”

“Feels that way, don’t it?” John chuckled. “Oh! Arcade, why not come with us?”

“Oh, you brought this up before, didn’t you?” He looked over at me, then back at John. “I dunno, I don’t usually join up with budding armies…”

“Funny, you sure you don’t want two cute boys flirting with you all across the wasteland?” John grinned. “We just need a big strong doctor to help us two bad boys adventure across the Mojave…”

“Hey, John, I’m _right_ here.” I teased, sticking my tongue out. “Share the love.”

“Like I said – _two_ cute boys.” He winked, laughing. Arcade rolled his eyes, sighing sarcastically.

“Y’know what? I’ll bite. John’s got a point; overt flirtation will get you everywhere.” He nodded. “Now – we’ve got places to be, don’t we?”

“Yeah.” I nodded back. “John and I needed a way onto the Strip; don’t suppose you’d know a way?”

He put a hand on his chin. “Well, with three… _hopefully_ smart people on the same team, we should be able to come up with something. Usually, people come to the Followers for help; I haven’t been on the Strip in quite a while…”

John shrugged. “I guess we could go see with the Securitrons outside; if they’re the same ones from the first time we entered the strip, they might recognise us.”

“Yeah, and fry us for those alleged ‘fake’ passports you mentioned.” I rolled my eyes. “Maybe we can hack ‘em.”

“Oooh, we could…” John nodded. “Plug your Pip-Boy into it! See if that works!”

“Well, we’d have to find a securitron, first. Unless one of us happens to be an android and just don’t know it…”

“Nah, I at least _know_ I’m more cog than hog.” John shrugged. Arcade and I exchanged confused, frightened glances.

“…Hog?”

“It rhymes. Cog, hog, Chernabog, on a log, in the fog…” He trailed off. “Er, uh… I mean…”

“Don’t sweat it.” I grinned. “Let’s just make our way back around and see if we can get onto the Strip.”


	14. I KNOW SOMETHING YOU DON'T KNOW

  
_[ eyes huge, so little left if something ]_  
[chevelle - take out the gunman]  
-[]-

The sounds were chaotic as I entered the casino. Loud noises, bright lights… it was hell. I couldn’t _think._ I kept my head low, barely able to see someone motioning for me to come to the desk.

“You’ll need to give us that machete of yours.” He told me, pointing at my hip. I sighed, sliding it out of its holder and plopping it onto the counter. “Right… thank you?”

“Don’t mention it.” I mumbled. I could barely hear myself think; this is how people _actually_ live? I kept my head low, tuning out as much as I could… but I was able to focus on one voice in particular.

A gruff, growly voice – Definitely a tribal. Definitely… familiar. He was roaring with laughter, his glass clinking against.. something. Probably a counter.

“And then I told the man to his face exactly what I thought, kicked his ass, and left that damn oil rig up in flames.” He let out a satisfied huff, slamming the glass down again… and shattering it. “Oh fortheluva—Sorry. How much would that be?”

“…Your tab then… I dunno, 200 bucks to replace all the glasses you’ve broken?” I looked over to see the man fish out a bright blue satchel, the number 13 displayed prominently on the side, as he pulled out a handful of caps, and an even bigger handful of NCR dollars.

“There. Should be a combined total of around $350.” He smiled, turning around and slinging the satchel over his shoulder. He was wearing Power Armor from the look – the emblem over his breast lazily crossed out with red paint – smiling behind him as he walked away, each footstep shaking the ground underneath him.

I slumped over to the bar, taking his seat and resting my chin in my arms. The bartender looked over at me, raising an eyebrow.

“Can I… get you anything?”

“Just… I dunno. Something cheap. I’m not stacked.” I grumbled. “water?”

There was a man next to me, I think. Checkered suit, hair carefully arranged to say ‘I have half the dick size but twice the ego.’ Wonderful. He shuffled, looking at the bartender.

“I’ll cover her.” He leaned down, looking at me – He extended a kind smile, nodding. “Anything you want, I’ll foot the bill, baby.”

I chuckled. “What’s the catch? Usually when random cuties in checkered suits start buying me drinks, they want something outta me…” I shuffled, sitting upright and looking him directly in the eyes. “If you want a fun night on the town with a girl that can chuck you like a javelin, you don’t even need the alcohol.”

He took a step back, briefly losing his composure before quickly regaining it, smirking. “Really, we’re gonna play it like that, baby? Cash out together, take the night off… what then?”

“Hmph.” I folded my arms, looking at him with a smirk. “_That_ depends how much you impress me, pretty boy. You don’t know me – You don’t gotta. But I know you.” I leaned forward, reaching out and touching his cheek. “You’re the leader of this joint. King of the casino, if it were.”

He nodded, taking my hand. “You pick up on things pretty quick. Let’s take this… somewhere _private_, maybe?”

I grinned. “Keep it on the down-low, loverboy. I can make time for you, but you can’t distract a lady from what she does best.” He led me out of the main area, the two of us entering one of the elevators. “You never told me your name, y’know – I need_ something _to scream if this is going the way I think it’s going.”

“Hey, sometimes I forget my manners – The name’s Benny. And you, pussycat?” He leaned a little closer.

“Dyce.” I smirked. The elevator stopped, and he led me to what I can really only assume was his room. “Surprised you didn’t react… most people get pretty scared when they hear my name.”

“Names don’t put fear in my heart, doll. It’s _actions_ that get me scared.” He looked at me. “And really, I’m only here to take care of a couple things before we have our little date; maybe show you where _you’ll_ be sleepin’ tonight, baby.”

“That’s if you impress me, like I said.” I smirked. “Gotta say, you’re gonna have to step up your game if you’re gonna score a night with me.” I followed him quietly, watched as he grabbed a thicker version of his coat… and closed a door on a lone securitron.

“Don’t pay the robot any mind, doll – he’s somethin’ of a testing grounds.” He chuckled, putting the thicker coat on and hanging up the original one. I grinned, closing the door to the room. He raised an eyebrow. “What, was that enough to convince you?”

“Oh, no.” I smirked. “But I’m starting to remember why I know you… You were in Goodsprings, weren’t you?”

“What makes you ask that? I had a prior commitment, baby – The game doesn’t play itself; sure you know that.”

“Oh, I know it well enough… but tell me about the punk you iced.” I put a hand on the bed. “I _love_ a man that can get things done.”

A pink crawled across his face as he sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard. “There wasn’t much to him; a kid who had somethin’ of mine, a kid who knew too much.”

“And what did he have?” I purred. “Something _extra_ important if you had to off him, I bet.”

“Hey now – a king can’t spill_ all_ his secrets, doll.” He chuckled. “You can’t just pry your way through my defenses to get a night in bed _and_ run with my info.”

“Aww… we could make a game about it. I tell you something about me, then you say somethin’ about yourself. Repeat until naked?” I bounced slightly. That _definitely_ got his attention.

“I suppose I’m down for that… but that means you gotta start, baby – I’ve said enough.”

“I’ve seen him.” I smirked. His eyes were the size of plates as he tried to process what I just said.

“You… you’ve seen him?”

“And he’s coming this way.” I crawled closer to him, grabbing his chin and pulling his face close to mine. “But if you tell me what your scheme is… we can get out of here before he’s got a chance to pop your head like a melon between his thighs.”

“Well…” He shook his head. “Gonna have to see it for myself before anything comes of—“ I cut him off, pulling a tablet-like Pip from between my cleavage. “How the hell did _that_ fit in there?”

“It folds.” I said flatly, powering it on. The tubes embedded into the sides glowed as the screen came on, displaying a list of notes I had taken on the boys. Truth is, I’d been following them… at least since Boulder City. “Anyway. Black hair, glasses, about 5’7, traveling with a manlet and – as of recently – a doctor.” I twirled a dial, loading another note. “Current plan had them stay in Freeside overnight… and—“

“Alright! I get it, lady.” He slid off the bed and stood up, putting a hand on his chin. “He’s all scrambled because he’s out to kill me. Well, I’ll show him why that’s a bad idea. And I’ll want your help.”

“I’d love to, but my allegiances lie elsewhere.” I smirked. Thank you Mentats for helping me remember words. “But, we can work together. I’ve need a reason to show my superior I’m more than just a fine cut of meat.”

“Meet me back on the casino floor.” He looked at me and smirked. “We’ll show him what we’re packing.”

“Though I suppose he’ll be more interested in you… if his interactions with the round one are any indication.” I grinned as he glared. “Hey, can’t shame a man for what he likes… and I can’t say I’d disagree.”

We went back down to the casino floor – me opting to tighten my ponytail into a loose bun to look at least a bit more proper. I took his hand, walking out of the casino – and there, we saw him.

“I’d hate to interrupt your vengeance plan, but Mr. House has requested a visit from ya.” A securitron… Victor! How did he end up all the way our here? “After that, you can go back and get your vengeance well-served.”

“Thank you, Victor.” He replied, smiling. The round one and their new guy, the doctor, looked over at us. “Let’s get to the Lucky 38… John, what--?”

“There he is!” John said, pointing at us. “And he’s with that chick from Nipton!”


	15. UNEASY ALLIANCE

_[nick wright - holotape]_  
-[]-

I took a step back, looking at Benny, then at the girl next to him... Victor also turned around, wheeling back slightly before busting into a jaunty laugh.

“Ahh, how about that! That’s some timing. Mr. House wants a word with _you_ as well.” His monitor flickered emotionlessly, the smug cowboy that served as his face seemingly locking eyes with Benny as his face turned as white as his suit. “Oh, now, don’t be so shocked. I reckon he wanted to speak to both of y’all equally.” He spun around, gesturing for Benny and myself to enter the Lucky 38. “Your pardners are gonna haf’ta wait out here, but I think they can handle themselves just fine.”

I nodded, turning around. “You two gonna be okay out here?” I asked softly as they both nodded. Benny looked at Dyce, hand tightening against his pant leg as he quietly trailed behind me…

“So.” He mumbled after a while. I raised an eyebrow, eye drifting to look back at him.

“What, plotting how to shoot me in the _back_ of the head?” I snarked. “Save the festivities for when we talk to House.”

“I wasn’t planning on it, tough guy.” He scoffed. “Besides, I’ve still only got a 9mm. What, you got a skull of steel or somethin’?”

“Nah.” We entered the elevator, Victor sandwiched between us… for the best, really. “Just an upsetting amount of determination, and better self-control than _some_ of us with our firearms. Something tells me you haven’t had enough experience; you get excited and fire too early.”

“Oh—what the hell makes you say _that?!_” He said indignantly, a tinge of defensiveness in his voice. “What, you think my finesse with a gun determines—“

“_Gentlemen._” Victor said flatly, cutting us both off. “Penthouse floor.”

We both went quiet as the elevator doors opened, the three of us awkwardly filing out onto the main floor. Victor stayed by the elevator, me sticking upsettingly close to Benny as we made our way down the stairs and… towards Mr. House.

Mr. House turned out to be bigger than I expected. His face appeared on the large monitor stuck to the wall as we walked closer; it was like the faces I’d been seeing on Securitrons… but by an order of magnitudes bigger.

“Ah. You’re both here.” He said flatly, already bored with the overly-comedic contrast between the two of us. Benny was clean-shaven and well-dressed; I looked like a mop pretending to be a scientist. He sighed quietly, two securitrons wheeling closer to us. “Do you have the delivery?”

I looked up at him, shaking my head. “No. I got _shot_, and then—“

“Do you have the delivery, _Benny?_” There was an odd change in inflection; his tone and pitch didn’t change, but he somehow still sounded more condescending. “You forget just how many contacts I have.”

He somehow turned even _more_ pale as he fumbled out a small chip from his breast pocket. One of the Securitrons took it, haphazardly sliding it into a console below House’s monitors. He sighed, beeping echoing throughout the weirdly haunting room as the chip ejected itself – the securitron, this time, handing it to me.

“Thank you. Now... Mr. Lux, you may do as you wish with him.” He chuckled. “I’m sure you must be… _upset_ at his course of action while trying to undermine my authority. You and I have… much to discuss.”

I nodded. “For now… Just escort Benny out of here. I’ll speak with him _privately_ when this is done.”

The securitrons responded to me, each one grabbing Benny by an arm and wheeling him away – I think House was more surprised I let him live, even if it was presumably for a brief moment.

“You’ll need to go down into the basement; I have something I would like you to see.” He said, immediately returning to his “standard” tone of voice. I nodded, walking to the elevator. Victor bounced, simulating a nod in return as the elevator to the basement opened its doors.

After a moment, the doors opened back up again, and I slowly ambled out of the elevator, standing up on the metal platform in front of me as House’s bored-as-ever voice droned into my skull.

“I’m sure you’re familiar with my Securitrons…” He started, the two securitrons in the pit below looking up at me and bouncing.

“Intimately so.” I mumbled under my breath. Note to self: Make John regret everything he’s ever done.

“They have a titanium alloy housing, protecting the electronic core. It deflects small arms and shrapnel… easily enough.” He continued to drone on… I was already rolling my eyes – thought I was done listening to old people spew their evil plans when I threw Autumn under the purifier. “The gatling laser in its left hand, produced to spec, is deadly against softer targets at medium range… and for crowd control, they have a 9mm sub-machine gun in their right hand.”

I sighed, already growing sleepy with his boring sales pitch. “And yet… All this time, my Securitrons have been stuck on their Mark I operating system; in truth, these two weapons are their _secondary_ kit.” His voice changed slightly. Still bored, but with a more bouncy intonation. “As of right now, I’m installing the Mark II OS onto them… courtesy of you and that Platinum Chip.” I put my face against the force-field keeping me out of danger, watching as the two Securitrons in the pit looked at me, their faces changing from the police officer they once had into gruff soldiers, smoking a cigar.

“Now… with this Mark II system, they can use their _primary_ weapons!” His voice shifted more dramatically this time – going from bored salesman trying to convince his wife to stay and shifting into an elated, eager mad scientist, having finally found the magic of the baboon uterus. “They now have the ability to fire their missiles, allowing them to engage ground and air targets with a significantly longer range! They have rapid-fire grenades, making them deadly in close-range engagements! The software upgrade even includes upgrades to enhance user experience, to enhance their auto-repair systems!” He cleared his throat. “All in all, these upgrades confer a 235% increase in combat effectiveness, per unit.” I sighed; his voice went back to being boring as hell.

“And…?” I rolled my eyes as he chuckled.

“The city of New Vegas finally has soldiers worthy of protecting it. But the demonstration has ended; return to the penthouse – we’ve much to discuss.”

I nodded, quietly making my way back to the elevator and riding back up to the penthouse, sighing softly. This place… Hell, Mr. House himself gave me the creeps.

I guess I’d have to regroup with the others and see what they thought of the whole situation… And maybe… Maybe, get a reason for what Benny did.


	16. HIGH ROLLERS

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter from the initial 16 posted to DeviantArt. Starting with Chapter 17 (16 on DA), content will be dual-posted to both Deviantart and AO3.

  
_[ everything's about to change! ]_  
[thousand foot krutch - war of change]  
-[]-

Victor bounced in greeting as I stepped onto the elevator again. “He told me you’ve been comped the high-roller suite!” Victor said cheerfully as I leaned against the back wall, looking up at the flickering light. “Y’all can use it as a lil’ base of operations for you and your gang. Won’t that be fun?”

“Do you live there too?” I said flatly, raising an eyebrow as he sent us back to the ground floor.

“Ah, no, only by the elevator. Someone’s gotta push these buttons…” The doors opened with a flat ding, and the two of us walked out onto the casino floor and out onto the sidewalk. Arcade and John nodded at me, but it looked like Dyce had already run off.

“You two can come in now; there was jus’ some private business that needed to be discussed.” Victor said with his eternal smile, bopping reassuringly. “C’mon; I can show you where you three can stay if y’want.”

“Take ‘em up for me, would you?” I asked. “I need to go settle something… on my own.” I nodded behind me, the Tops sign blinking away. Arcade and John nodded, looking at Victor as he led them inside. I sighed, turning around and stomping across the street, entering the casino that, a short while ago, I wouldn’t have even guessed to look at.

I snuck my blaster past the greeter, walking up to Benny and tapping his shoulder, leaning against the guardrail and crossing my arms with a smirk. Almost as quickly as I’d arrived, his face was pale and he was frozen in his step.

“So that _wasn’t_ a ghost I was seein’ when you told them to lead me outta there…” He said quietly, taking a step back. His bodyguards followed, two on either side of him. “Wh-why are you here now then?”

“Well, my original intention was offing you for that tacky suit of yours.” I said smugly, laughing. “But now? Since you got the scare of a lifetime from seeing my corpse and your boss? I dunno. Maybe we should have a chat about your actions, friend.”

He sputtered, looking around before taking a quiet breath and looking into my eye. “…Fine. I’ll comp you the Presidential Suite; we’ll talk there.”

“I eagerly await it.” I smirked as he handed me the key, walking up to the elevator and heading to the suite directly. Oddly, he was already there when I’d arrived.

“So. How is it you’re still alive?” He spun around on the stool he was sat on, quietly sipping on a drink before setting it on the counter. “C’mon, take a seat – we’ve got all evening.”

I sat on the stool next to his, folding my arms. “Chalk it up to divine intervention; you’re not the first thing that’s tried to kill me.” I chuckled, fanning my hands out as I stretched. “Trust me, honey – if an irradiated water purifier can’t kill me, a dinky 9mm sure as hell won’t. Not for lack of trying though – good move, aiming for the eye.” I laughed. “Means I can’t sleep with the other open if you come for round 2.”

“And how’d you track me down, anyway?” He gave me a look. “You don’t seem to have any proof or anythin’ it was me who pulled the trigger.”

“Your Khan friends.” I chirped, pulling his lighter from my pocket. He swore under his breath, reaching out to grab it before I pulled it away. “Ohhhh no no no. You left it, and it got handed over to me. Unless you want it arm-deep in your colon, I suggest you leave the grabby-hands to finders keepers.”

“Hmph. To think I considered that thing my lucky charm…” He rolled his eyes, swirling his drink against the counter before taking another sip. “All right. Enough scratching at first base – which way is the wind gonna blow, kid?”

“What’s your MO?” I asked, almost immediately. He looked at me, raising an eyebrow. “Don’t play dumb, Benny. You’ve got a plan here, even House caught onto that. You wanted the chip, were willing to kill for it. You addled a young sucker’s brains to hell and back, when all the poor sod wanted was to do his job, get his caps, and do his chems. What’s your game?”

He gave me an odd chuckle, eyeing me curiously. “What’s yours?”

“Figuring out my murderer’s schemes. Maybe joining in… if I find them to my liking.” I grinned. “Maybe more, maybe less. Depends how you swing and how the wind blows.”

“Hah – why in the hell would you hit on the guy that tried to ice you?” He looked at me. “Just that sick in the head, huh?”

“It’s fun watching people react. You shoulda seen how the _last_ thing that failed to kill me reacted.”

“Hm. Alright, I’ll play along.” He put the drink down, standing up and pacing back and forth. “Broad strokes: Change in management.” I rolled my eye – Cool. _Two_ sales pitches in the same day. “We’d need the securitrons – _I_ need a way to control ‘em, and a way to beef up their hitting power. Looks like your little chat with House got the ones on the Strip upgraded… which is perfect for us.”

“And what happens _after_ that?”

“Once we get my… friend, all cozy in the Lucky 38, we can work from there to beef up every other part of Vegas’ defences – we’d be able to defend Vegas from all contenders. NCR, Caesar’s Legion, it won’t matter. Hell, Vegas’d be able to defend _herself._” He said smugly, looking at me. “And that’s where the Chip came into play. It has the House edge – and from the looks, he’s already shown you what’s on it.”

I folded my arms, locking eyes with him as he sat back down. “And you’re not gonna pop another one in my head, take the Chip, and run like hell.”

“Well, no – You kinda beat me to the punch with what my game was over here. Somehow, without even tryin’, you got House to confide in you the _biggest_ trade secret in all of Vegas.” He smirked. “I’d be a fool to kill you now while you’ve got that secret rattling around in that head of yours.”

“Tell you what. I gotta think about this. You stay here, let your ideas stew. I’ve got other things occupying my time, taking up valuable brainspace.” I stood up, winking at him coyly. “I’ll give you a call if you want another date, ‘kay baby?”

“Sounds platinum.” He nodded as I walked out the door, back into the elevator. There was something I needed to talk to the boys about, anyway…


	17. EARLY MORNING MEETING

  
_[ maybe you think that you can hide ]_  
[maroon 5 - animals]  
-[]-

“Ollie…” His voice slithered down my neck, seeping through my entire body. I shivered, smiling as he stood up, opening his arms for a hug. I quietly complied, the two of us softly – and quickly – embracing before any of the guards noticed. “You’re finally here… and on time for once.”

“S-Sorry… I got caught up in something—“

“Nothing new with you.” He chuckled, tracing a hand along my face, making sure the barbed wire from his bracers scratched along my lips, making me wince. “Come here, I’ve got something _important_ for you to take care of…”

“I-Important?” I beeped quietly, following behind him.

“Oh… not _that_.” His lips curled into a sinister smile, mannerisms like a lakelurk grinning at its prey. “Specific little… mission; gets you a vacation and gets a _very_ important person out of my way. Here, sit on the bed…” He gestured, myself sitting down and looking at him. “You know you don’t have to be so high-strung around me, right?” He said with a chuckle, leaning down and ruffling my hair. “What happened to the you that used to follow me without all the fuss?”

“Hey, big stuff like this has always made me nervous…” I mumbled defensively. “Especially when I have to go out of town and risk running out of—“

“Oh, don’t _worry_ about that.” He nodded. “I made sure the lower fodder gave me _everything_ they had coming back… just so _you_—“ he leaned down, poking my nose softly.” –could keep your little brain in check while you’re out there.” He stood back up, laughing. “Now… let’s get to the meat of things, love.” He locked eyes with me, and I nodded slowly. He chuckled, closing his eyes in thought as he paced back and forth.

“S-So…?”

“You’ve got that Pip-Boy I foolishly let you keep. Doesn’t it have a radio?” He eyed me as I quietly pulled it out, looking at it and nodding. “You’ve been receiving that same message – about the man heading into Utah. They need Pip-Boys… and I have a good thought as to where they might be heading.” He put a hand on his chin, closing his eyes. “I want you to join that caravan. And find… _him._” He shuffled a hand in his robe, pulling out a somewhat-worn drawing. “Do you remember Joshua, Ollie?”

I gasped softly. There was no way… I’d pushed him myself, how did he… “I remember him…”

“He lived. _You_ need to fix that.” He leaned down, a sweet concerned smile on his face. “After all… it was _you_ that pushed him down there in the _first place_, wasn’t it? When we first became lovers?”

“Yeah… yeah it was…” I nodded, returning the Pip-Boy to its rightful place. “I’ll head with that caravan immediately.” I turned around towards the exit, only for him to grab my shoulder.

“But it’s so late… don’t you want to rest? Don’t you want the _warmth_ of a comfortable bed?” He purred, pulling me closer…

The next morning, I grabbed my things and set out before he even had a chance to wake up. It was still dark, and I could barely see, but I could make do with my Pip-Boy map until the sun rose. I don’t even know why I was running like this.

He’s not that bad a guy once you get used to him. He’s pushy, he’s not one to take “no” for an answer… but his charisma and his intelligence make up for that. It’s why I keep to myself; he treats me like everyone else but deep down I know I’m _really_ his favourite… Why would he treat me like that otherwise? He has to treat me like everybody else so nobody knows he’s playing favourites with a _woman._ That’s just a fact of life. I stopped, having a snack as I heard footsteps crunching behind me.

“Dyce?” I heard a familiar voice say. An accent that didn’t fit at all with the rest of the world around him, soft undertones, the voice of a natural-born healer… Dexter.

“Oh… can I help you?” I asked quietly as he knelt down next to me. The sun was starting to rise finally, a deep indigo light being cast all around us. “I’m not hurt or anything, I…”

“You’re all by yourself, in your wasteland outfit, and your face is completely free of makeup.” He said matter-of-factly. “You ran away.”

“No I didn’t.” I mumbled, quietly opening the box of cakes I’d pulled out of my backpack. “I left before dawn because I have something to do.”

“With how you were running before you sat down?” He tilted his head, sitting down. I rolled my eyes, offering him a cake. He took it, quietly munching. “You’re either hellbent or fleeing. I’d wager both, given you only seem to have snacks in there.”

“I forgot my armor. It’s not important, is it?” I looked over at him. “What about you? Didn’t you have that meeting with that ‘House’ guy?”

“I had it already; I was talking to the boys about it, then the radio on my Pip-Boy went off with an announcement that there was a caravan—“

“—That needed people with Pip-Boys.” I finished, nodding. “That’s why I’m goin’.”

“You have one?”

“An older model, yeah.” I put my snack down, pulling it out and showing him. He took it, gingerly holding it as he examined the rusty interface. “I found it when I was a kid; my dad said it was probably my grandpa’s. We took it to him and he said I could hold onto it – said it could record video, I could record…” My voice trailed off as I grabbed it back from him; sudden, horrible thoughts filled my mind as I quickly shuffled through the files I had saved on it…

“What?”

“It can… It can record video and audio.” I said quietly, hand tracing along the screen as I dug through the oldest files on it. “Grandpa was impressed it still worked… apparently it used to belong to _his_ grandpa.”

“How old is it?”

“At least a century at this point.” I laughed, hitting the bottom of the list. All of these… God, these had to have been when my great-great-grandpa was out here. “Check it out – I found some _really_ old videos.” I pressed a button, a small projector popping out from the top of the Pip-Boy as it projected an image onto the rocks.

It was a girl, not looking older than 17 or 18. In front of her was an old man, who was looking at the camera and looking… depressingly remorseful, a closed Vault door behind him. The girl seemed to be yelling something, arms flailing as the old man held his hands up, half in defense and half in apology. A hand waved closer to the camera, beckoning the girl to stop harassing the old man. She stomped over to him, taking his hand and walking away – the video ending with her taking the pip-boy so they could both be seen clearly. The two of them had black hair, hers a lot shorter than his. He looked at her, and she laughed as the video ended.

Dex looked at the projection, then at me. “Old family reunion?”

“…My great-great-grandpa.” I said, grinning. “He founded Arroyo.”

“Arroyo? Where’s that?”

“On top of the ruins of some old prewar town they used to call… Eu-re-ka?” I paused, sounding the name out. He nodded slowly, motioning for me to continue – was he _actually_ interested in this stuff?? “It isn’t much; the Eureka thing is just where my grandpa re-founded it after the Enclave destroyed the original, apparently.”

“The Enclave were _around _that long ago?” He asked softly, voice changing slightly. “I… Man, I remember destroying their base of operations only like… five years ago, about.”

“But you’re not from around here, are you?” I looked at him questioningly. “You’re from the Capital Wasteland; it said so in the Survival Guide.”

“That thing made it all the way out here?” He gasped. “I knew Moira said it had blown up in popularity, but how quickly did it get this far out?”

“It’s been the bread and butter of caravan leaders for at least two years.” I grinned. “I got my copy after helping a caravan across some raider-filled land.” He… he was smiling, ear-to-ear. This, this celebrity… he was giving me the time of day?

“That’s amazing!” He lit up, laughing. “I’m so happy that the Survival Guide has helped so many people!”

“Couldn’t be that way without you, y’know that?” I looked at him, smiling just as genuinely as he was. “Hey! Why don’t we walk the rest of the way together? It’d be nice to have someone to talk to if we gotta head that far north…”

“That sounds good to me!” He stood up, taking my hand and helping me to my feet as I stuck my Pip-Boy back into my backpack, slinging it over my shoulder. “Come on, we’d better hurry before they leave.”


	18. WATCHING PEOPLE READING PEOPLE

_[ I dreamed I was missing, you were so scared / but no one would listen, 'cause no one else cared ]_

_[linkin park - leave out all the rest]_

-[]-

Dex was heading to Zion to work with caravans. That was fine; I figured he wanted some time away from me, especially since I haven’t left his side since he came to.

Arcade and I walked out of the Lucky 38, casinos lighting up the sky as we entered the Tops – not on any “business” like Dex had, but rather to just enjoy ourselves. Dex gave me the key to his suite before he’d left, just in case something happened to the Lucky 38. Sat at one of the tables by the gambling area, we saw Benny sitting across from a woman, about as old as Arcade by the looks.

“And how’d you know where to find me, baby?” He asked curiously, leaning forward to speak with her as Arcade and I sat behind them, pretending I wasn’t listening.

“You have... something to know.” She looked up at him, locking eyes through her lavender-coloured blindfold. He shivered. “Your quest would be dead in the water… had your benefactor not risen.”

“B-Benefactor? Honey, do you even—“

“Allow me to finish,_ Mr. Gecko_.” She barked. He flinched, though more from hearing his name said like that, I wager. “The angel you brutalized has the same ideas. You just don’t know how he will execute them. This… scares you, doesn’t it.”

“Why did you come here? You never answered—“

“Silence.” She lowered her blindfold, eyes simply black holes into her skull. “If you do not wish to cooperate, I can just as easily leave. I can just as easily tell you how your story ends. I am looking for someone – someone who is working for your guardian angel. Someone. Who. Can. Help. Us. **_Both._**” Her voice was dripping with frustrated venom. “If you wish to see if your scheme will prove fruitful, I suggest you keep your senseless inquiries to yourself.”

“Well, tell me who you’re lookin’ for then, and I can help you more than if you just force me to can it and let you ramble.”

“My niece. You spent a few brief moments with her three days ago; when your angel first arrived on the Strip.” She returned the blindfold to its rightful place. “She is in as much danger as your angel.”

“Dyce?” He asked, I looked at Arcade, who shrugged. The woman nodded, laughing.

“Ah, yes… I suppose that is the name she is using… She is traveling with him, to places beyond the Mojave, while you sit here and contemplate the angel’s offer.” She sighed. “The five of you will change the world… and then four of you will walk away.”

“What’s that mean?”

“You will see.” She smiled softly, looking him in the eyes again. “And you will pine for that which you missed out on. That which in your darkest hour, fell from the clouds, fresh as a newborn, and awoke your true desires.”

I looked over at Arcade. “She’s talking about us.”

“What makes you say that?” He replied, resting his chin against his hand as he tilted his head curiously.

“Think about it – she mentions Dyce, right? And then how ‘his angel’ is with her – Unless she’s got another Legionnaire with her, that can only _be_ Dex, right?”

“But how do you know that Dyce and Dexter ended up in the same place, at the same time?”

She stood up, quietly placing a finger on her lips towards Benny as she walked to our table, quietly chuckling to herself. “I apologise, boys… I suppose you know about my niece as well, don’t you?”

“y-Yeah…” I mumbled. “Sh-she’s… she… yeah…”

“We saw her a few days ago, when we first got here. Dexter--” He paused, pointing at me. “--his boyfriend, he’s the one that the guy you’re talking to shot in the head.” Arcade clarified, looking up at her.

“He seemed fine with it!” Benny protested from behind me. I reached over, smacking him in the back of the head before sitting back down as the woman laughed.

“He is an uncooperative one, no?” She joked. “I suppose you two are as wrapped up in this as he is… as she is… and as ‘Dexter’ is.”

I nodded. “Are we? Last we checked, Dex had a talk with Mr. House, and then we got to go inside to check out our new suite, and now I have the key to Dex’s suite _here_, and he’s off on vacation.”

“He gave you the key to his suite here?” Benny asked. “…Wait, don’t I know you?”

“We had an evening together three years ago.” I said flatly, smirking. “You said I was the best—“

“That’s, enough of that, baby.” He put his hands up, face as red as the woman’s hair. “Tell you what, maybe later you n’ I can have a little _chat_ about what happened with your boy, huh?”

“Later, yeah.” I rolled my eyes. Arcade gave me a questioning look, and I responded with a shrug. “Anyway, uhh…”

“Miss is fine.” She smiled sweetly. “I suppose I should read your futures too… while you’re here.”

“Is there a charge?”

She paused. “…Usually. However, this is a… special case. It would seem your fates are tied to Mr. Gecko’s…”

She held out her hands. I looked at Arcade, and we each put our hands to hers.

“I can see it…” She took a deep breath. “Five people, stood arm-in-arm as a battle rages. Heroes, forged by blood and trust, crafted through many days of collaboration. They stand at the precipice of fate, and yet… there is more to this story. Things that even I cannot see.” She pulled away from us suddenly, taking a deep breath. “But… I grow weary. You will see in due time.” She hobbled away quietly as I looked over at Arcade.

“You believe her?”

“Nah. You see weirdos like that all the time on the Strip, they almost never tell the truth – usually that’s their gimmick to swindle caps out of people.”

“Wonder why she read ours for free though…”

“To seem more legitimate.” Arcade chuckled as I rolled my eyes. “I’ve seen scams that work entirely on the basis of missing half your pay just to make those that _do_ pay pay extra.”

“That seems counterintuitive.” I raised an eyebrow curiously. He shrugged, looking over at me.

“Sometimes, that’s just the way it is. C’mon, let’s get back to the Lucky 38 – it’s getting late.”

“Yeah… good idea.” I mumbled as we stood up, making our way outside and back home.


	19. STUCK

_[ a monster, a monster, i've turned into a monster ]_

_[imagine dragons - monster]_

-[]-

The air was filled with the unmistakable scent of blood as we poked our heads up from behind a rock. Corpses were all around us – the caravan we’d been traveling with the past two weeks, gone in the blink of an eye.

“You get used to seeing piles of bodies, honestly.” Dyce said flatly as we made our way out into the open – at least the assailants all died, too. We wouldn’t get caught in the crossfire. “It gives me a rush, seeing how quickly a group of people can die.”

“_We_ could’ve died!” I protested. “Do you _honestly_ want to see yourself killed out here?!”

“If time permits.” She joked, but there was a… distinctly subtle tinge of seriousness. I shook my head, walking cautiously onto the bridge. She followed, our bloodied footsteps leaving the perfect trail behind us. Another tribal stopped us, and I instinctively held my blaster up in defense… before Dyce smacked it out of my hand and onto the ground.

“What was that for?!”

“He doesn’t have the same markings as the other ones. Different tribe.” She warned, nodding towards him. I grumbled, retrieving my blaster and holstering it.

“Are you two okay?” He asked cautiously, sounding his words out slowly. “The White Legs… looks like they got the rest of your caravan, huh?”

“We’re fine.” Dyce replied, nodding. “A bit shaken, but otherwise unharmed. Are you okay?”

“Yeah, yeah – They didn’t notice me.” He looked over at me. “He good?”

“Yeah, I’m _fine._” I sputtered, half-glaring. Dyce rolled her eyes, punching my shoulder softly as I dusted off my labcoat. “What are you doing here, anyway? Where’s the rest of your… tribe?”

“Back at the Eastern Virgin, where our camp is.” He sat flatly. “I’m just a scout.”

“They don’t _all_ travel together, y’know.” Dyce glared. “Tribals aren’t _savages_, Vault Boy. Some of ‘em can go off and do their own thing without being surrounded by others.”

“Right, right, I know…” I shook my head. “S-Sorry. Bit of a bad first im-impression, you know?”

“Ah, don’t worry about it. Dead Horses aren’t like that.” He grinned. “Come on, I can take you guys to our camp.”

I nodded, Dyce eagerly grabbing my wrist and leading us behind the tribal. “Oh! We never got your name!” She gasped, looking up at him as he turned his head.

“Oh! Follows-Chalk.” He nodded. “You two?”

“I’m Dyce.” She grinned, tugging my arm slightly. “This is Dexter.”

I waved, chuckling nervously. He waved back, smiling reassuringly as the three of us continuing onward.

The sun was shining high in the sky, beating down on our backs as we waded along the river. I had my labcoat off, tied around my neck to keep it dry – Dyce just happily splashed along, hopping over every bear trap we saw dotted along the clear waters.

“The bear traps are to keep White Legs out.” Follows-Chalk explained as we walked. “We have to tell the other Dead Horses to be careful, but they’re slowly learning to not step in them.”

“Useful.” Dyce chirped, playfully stomping in the water as we walked. “Ah – this water isn’t sacred to your tribe, is it?”

“Nah. Useful for food and wash sure, but it’s almost never ‘sacred’ unless Joshua’s working with Daniel and his disciples.”

“Daniel?” She asked, tilting her head. “Has he--?”

“Huh?” He blinked, giving her an odd look. “Has he… what?”

“Oh… nevermind.” Dyce’s face was flat, eyes wide as her joke seemed to plunk helplessly in the silt below our feet. “Friend of his?”

“Mish-on-arie… I think.” He put a hand on his chin. “Still a little rusty on the bigger words, sorry.”

“No worries!” She grinned. “You did pretty well – Daniel’s a ‘missionary,’ then.” He nodded, Dyce smiling. I looked at the two of them, eyes drifting along the orange walls of the canyon as we sloshed onto the shore. “Oh, where’s this?”

“This is the Eastern Virgin.” He chirped, bringing both of us back into focus. “Camp of the Dead Horses – I think Joshua will want to see both of you.” He pointed to a cave. “In there.”

We nodded, Dyce rather suddenly taking a passive role in this as she stood behind me. “You should… you should greet him. He’s… I… We have history.”

“Huh??” I looked at her, confused as she nudged me to keep moving. “What’s the beef?”

“I—I’ll explain later!” She looked oddly afraid, a complete shift from the confidence she had before. “Just – He won’t know _you._”

I shrugged, walking forward as another tribal darted out of the cave. It was a little girl, excitedly barrelling out of the cave and knocking us to the ground as she springboarded off Dyce’s back, landing in Follows-Chalk’s arms. They excitedly babbled to each other in their native tongue, Dyce and I sharing a confused (but oddly tender) look as we entered the cave.

She kept strangely close to me, her breaths quick and warm against my shoulder as I made my way into the cave, the other tribals giving us odd looks. She had like, 4 inches over me… Why was she trying to hide behind me? “Are you okay?” I asked quietly, looking behind me as best I could.

“No, I’m not okay!” She hissed, hand smacking my other shoulder. “It’s not like we’re about to meet—“

“Ah, I didn’t see we had guests.” A bookish, low voice echoed out, droning like gravel as Dyce froze, looking like her soul’d been ripped out of her body. “I take it you… _two…_ are from that caravan?”

The way he dragged out the word “two” like that… Dyce was shaking, almost violently so. I slowly nodded, looking up at the source of the voice – A man, maybe an inch shorter than Dyce, completely covered in bandages. His eyes glittered, a frightening sky blue in the deep reds reflecting off the cave. Black fingertips danced along a stack of guns, inspecting each meticulously as he carried on the conversation. “Yeah. We were with Happy Trails Caravan Company – Aiming for New Canaan, but it seems the uh, ‘White Legs’ I guess, had other plans.”

“Ah…” He closed his eyes, thinking about his next words. “They have been… quite the nuisance lately. I don’t know if _either_ of you were close to the other members, but… you’ve my sympathies regardless.” His eyes locked onto Dyce’s. If he _weren’t_ wearing the bandages, I would have assumed he’d have a grin like a shark’s. “And look at that… I haven’t seen your face in… what, four years?” The tiniest squeak left her. He laughed, face shifting under the bandages. Just from his eyes, I could tell two very distinct things: They had history, and they had _malice. _“Oh… don’t worry about it. I haven’t forgotten. I suppose you haven’t either.”

“How do we get back?” I cut him off, staring him down. “She’s not afraid of you, and neither am I.”

“She is… and you should be.” His voice was almost instantly dripping with venom. “And even if you did try anything… You need me and Daniel to guide you on your way home. We need supplies… and your help.”

“You seem fine to me!” I barked. He chuckled, setting the gun in his hands down with a defined finality. Looks like he’d chosen his weapon if this _did _get violent.

“What, with the White Legs raiding your caravans and terrorizing our tribes?” He leaned an elbow on the table, head in his hand. “I can’t expect God to do all the work… so I’ll accept his messenger all the same.”

“Messenger?” I raised an eyebrow. “What, you believe?”

“It’s a way to repent for what I’ve done, isn’t it? To return to my New Canaanite roots?”

I rolled my eyes. Dyce gripped my shoulder, trembling like a frightened mouse. “L-Look. W-We’ll… We’ll help you i-if we need to.” She looked up at him. “D-Don’t w-worry about him…”

“Oh, I’m not.” He looked at her again, her immediate response being to hide behind my shoulder again – even if his eyes were piercing right through me. “In fact, I trust him _so much_… _I’ll send him alone._” He nodded, happily inspecting the guns again as his feet kicked gingerly under the table. “You may as well pull up a chair, Ollie – we’ve much to catch up on.”


	20. LOST TIME, FOUND SMILE

  
_[ leave behind your heart and cast away ]  
[imagine dragons - natural]_

-[]-

Compasses? Walkie-Talkies? _Lunchboxes?_ Why was Joshua sending Dex out to find such… suspiciously mundane stuff?

The better question is why did he so happily accept the task… knowing how afraid I was?

Joshua looked at me, handling the guns with swiftness even as his focused his attention wholly onto me.

“Four years… And only now does he send _you?_” He chuckled as my fingernails dug into my thighs while I patiently knelt on the rocky floor. “I’m impressed. Does he think you can actually pull off what his other assassins couldn’t?”

“What makes you th-think I won’t?!” I snarled, locking eyes with him. He cocked an eyebrow curiously, looking at me with a hungry snideness. “I-I’m still the best L-Legionnaire he has, h-he tells me that h-himself.”

“…The best?” His faux-incredulousness was rivalled only by him struggling to hold back rancorous laughter. “Then why did he only send you now? He could have sent you first and been done with this cat-and-mouse game.”

“I was only 16 when he started sending assassins out, you know that. Even he cares enough to not send a _child_ to do his work.”

“His work? Yet he won’t come and face me himself?” He laughed, leaning down to stare deeper into me. “You really _are_ a curious piece of work, now that I see you outside of the Legion’s terms…”

“I’m still in better shape than you!” I snapped, jumping up and slamming a hand on the table. The guns tumbled to the floor, and he wordlessly put the one he was holding to my chest.

“You listen to me, _Olivia_.” His voice was low, venomous – the dead serious tone he’d only had a rare few times in the past… always when he caught me playing with the older friend I had made. “I am only the man I am now _because_ of you. And _you_ are here, because of what you did to me. This game you’ve found yourself in, is only your fault.” He moved the gun, digging the barrel against my sternum and silently shifting his finger so it rested on the trigger. “And you have. Two. Options. You will either entirely _obey_ Caesar’s orders… or you will completely, utterly disobey them. I have seen how you function. You were _my_ responsibility for. Seven. Years. _You will make the right choice, or suffer the consequences._”

I stumbled backwards, falling off the elevated rock and banging my head against the stone floor. The other tribals scattered, none daring to lift me up – Even if they didn’t understand the language he was speaking, anger was a universal language in of itself. If Joshua was angry, so were they.

I closed my eyes, slowly ruminating on the situation I found myself in. A dangerous place, a dangerous man… and my only ally is someone I’d barely met. We saw each other in Nipton, glanced at each other on the Strip… and then what, immediately hit it off like it’s nothing?

It’s embarrassing how quickly I find myself trusting people if they’re nice to me. And now he’s gone, run off god-knows-where. Probably has Follows-Chalk with him. Lovely.

When I opened my eyes again, the cave was devoid of adults. I must have fallen asleep… I sat up, rubbing the back of my head as I turned around. Tending to the fire… that was the same girl that used me as a trampoline. She turned around, making a curious noise and chirping something excitedly.

I crawled over to the fire. Her voice made her seem no older than… 5? 6? She kept talking, excitedly pointing to the fire. I nodded, giving her a thumbs-up. She looked at me curiously, pointing at her mouth. I shook my head, and she made a soft ‘hmmm’ sound… before getting up, running over and grabbing two white rocks from another part of the cave.

Sitting back down, she handed me one… and began to draw! She drew a taller stick figure, and a shorter one next to it. She drew stripes in the taller one’s head – that must have been Joshua.

I reached over, drawing Follows-Chalk’s headdress as best I could. Her eyes lit up, and she nodded excitedly. She drew an even smaller stick figure, and pointed to herself. I nodded, drawing a taller stick figure next to Joshua and pointing at myself, even drawing my hair onto it. She pointed at the drawing, then at my hair, eyes sparkling. She looked up at me, mining something like… wiping? Oh! Wiping the chalk away! I stood up, scraping away the drawings with my boot. She nodded, motioning for me to sit back down as she started drawing again.

“Owslandr.” She said slowly, pointing at me. I pointed back at myself, repeating the word back to her. She practically exploded with excitement, squealing with happiness as she fell onto her back, giggling.

She drew Follows-Chalk again, this time trying to draw his headdress by herself. “Brudeh.” She said confidently. I looked at her and nodded. This was his little sister? Or was that what they called each other? “Dahs ahk iss.”

A knock echoed throughout the cave, and the two of us looked over at the source –Follows-Chalk had entered, Dex behind him.

“Did Joshua leave?” He asked, looking around. The girl jumped up onto her feet, grinning excitedly.

“Owslander ahk iss! Owslander ahk iss!” she bounced, pointing at me.

“Iss?!” He grinned. “I see you made a friend, eh?”

“I do that.” I laughed. “Owslander… ahk… Dyce.” I said, leaning down and pointing to myself. She giggled, grinning from ear to ear.

“Dyce ahk iss.” She said, putting her hands on her hips and nodding. Follows-Chalk laughed, walking over and picking the girl up.

“She was playing teacher.” I told him, grinning. “What’s ‘iss’?”

“Friend.” He smiled. “This is… I guess in English she’d be Sings-of-Love?” He looked at me, shrugging. I shrugged back. “Her parents died a while back; I’ve been raising her as a ‘big brother’ of sorts.”

“Brudeehhh….” She pouted, making puppy eyes at him. “Nah ash ne wit ahk iss.”

“Ae, sohl tyeh. Ni roo too nait, sisteh.” He laughed, gently poking her nose. “She just wants to play, but it’s almost her bedtime.”

I laughed, waving at the girl. She waved back. “Bye-bye!” I cooed.

“Buh-buh!” She waved back, letting Follows-Chalk carry her outside. Dex stood next to me, putting a hand on my shoulder.

“Sorry I ran off earlier. He didn’t… mess you up too bad, did he?”

“Aside from pulling a gun on me and making me take a hours-long nap, not really.” I glared at him. “Why’d you fuck off so quickly?”

“I panicked, honestly. I was hoping you could handle him, since you know how he works better than I do.”

“Despite the obvious flags of ‘this man has hurt me in the past and will probably hurt me again?’” I shot him a look. “You’re not good with blatant signals, are you?”

“I’m sorry, okay?” He sighed. “I won’t do it again. I need help tomorrow anyway – we found the compasses and lunchboxes fine, but didn’t have time to get the walkie-talkies.”

“Please don’t.” I looked at him. “Let’s stick together from here on out.”

He nodded, taking my hand as we left the cave. “We don’t have much in the way of camping supplies, but I think we can wing it. It doesn’t get that cold out here, thank god.”

“Not like it got _warm_ either…” I grumbled. The cave would be the easiest place to camp out, but… I think staying _out_ of the cave would be better for our health.


	21. WALKING IN RAIN

  
_[ or am i origami, folded up and just pretend / demented as the motives in your head? ]   
[eve 6 - inside out]_

-[]-

The rain felt weird. Dex didn’t seem to mind it any, whistling softly to himself as we made our way towards the fishing lodge. Follows-Chalk had suggested we look there for the walkie-talkies that Joshua wanted – and then, after we get those, we were supposed to head over to the Sorrows camp to meet… Daniel, I think.

“Rain feels nice, doesn’t it?” Dex chirped, looking back at me. I shrugged, looking at the eternal length of the orange rocks around us. “The scenery out here is gorgeous!”

“Yeah… Definitely the prettiest…” I mumbled. “The rain feels weird. Is this just… water?”

“That’s what rain was like before the war. It was just water, having evaporated from places like puddles and lakes to create clouds and perpetuate the cycle.”

“Huh. Back home, ‘perpetuating the cycle’ just meant shoving a fistful of moss in your mouth and praying you didn’t puke.” I looked over at him. “Is that ‘rain’ thing just one of those science things you learned in that Vault or whatever?”

“Well, partially?” He shrugged. “Dad always brought me random textbooks he’d scrounge up from around the vault. One of them was just a repair manual in case the water chip ever went. Most of what I learned from ‘school’ was just like… how much the Overseer meant to our Vault.” He rolled his eyes, kicking dirt into the air with a hint of scorn. “Load of bull, I say.”

“What’s a Vault like, anyway?”

“Boring. It sucks the life out of you, and then casts you to the incinerator when you’ve outlived your use.” He growled, balling his hand into a fist – Clearly, I’d hit a sore spot with him. “They tell you you’re born in the Vault, that you’ll die in the Vault. That’s all you’re meant to think about. Life and death and life, again. Then… then my dad bailed, shooting all the plans he had for me down at their source.”

“Your dad?” I looked up at him. “What was he—“

“Terrible!” He yelled, pain echoing out into the unknown. “He always tried to push me to do better, knowing I couldn’t, then he fucking runs away on me! He was so preoccupied with his stupid water thing, that he… He didn’t even CARE about me!” He screamed, voice ripping through the air as he punched the rocky wall, tears glittering off his face. “He… He sacrificed himself to buy us some time going against the Enclave, but why? The stupid purifier was broken. Autumn… He coulda helped. The Brotherhood weren’t gonna be much use, without help from the main command center….” He slowly fell to his knees, quietly pulling the glove off to see how badly he’d hurt his knuckles.

“Seems like there’s… a lot to take in.”

“He wasn’t a bad father, really. Not when I was growing up. But… I was only 19 for like, a _month_, when he ran away.” He sighed, looking over at me as I put a hand on his shoulder comfortingly. “He helped me through so much… He understood when I broke up with Dieg— _Amata, _when I first came out to him… how badly I wanted to help people – to help him with his stuff in the medical area. He’s the reason I became a doctor... and as soon as I reach true adulthood, he just, up and runs away. No reason, no remorse… just a holotape, homicidal guards, and a scared kid being shoved into the world as quickly as his dad’d sealed him away.”

I looked at him, and he nodded wordlessly, allowing me to pull him into a hug. “Hey, go ahead and keep talking if you want; you’ve had this all bottled up, huh?”

He nodded slowly, sighing. “Not like… well, John watched it all happen. He was there when I found Dad… when dad died… when… when _I_ died, even.” He looked at his hand again, wiping the blood from his knuckles – how did he manage to scrape them from punching the rock with a glove on?? “I still don’t forgive myself for that. Hearing him scream like that, begging for me to stay alive…”

“You died?”

“That was the plan.” He looked up, holding his hand up and letting raindrops pool into it. “I just… couldn’t, anymore. But then… despite everything I’d done, despite everything I wanted… I still woke up. I pulled through.” He sighed. “I guess… that was more for John than anything. He needed me more than I needed me, so I let myself go for two weeks and then, soon as I woke up… we made our plans. We travelled around for a while, got caught in various situations – he went to Maryland, I became a slave, we met up again and gave a baby to a poor radio host…” He twirled his gun off of his hip, mock-shooting it into the sky. “I got abducted by aliens and got this gun. I think that was about when we decided that staying East wasn’t working out for us… so we came out west.”

He wriggled out of my arms, standing up and helping me to my feet. “But that’s enough moping about a life I gave up on.” He dusted off his coat, putting his glove back on. “That was Dexter Jameson; he died aboard a Zetan recon craft.” He stomped on the ground, pointing toward the sky with a… strange fire in his eyes. Quick turnaround. “I’m Dexter _Lux._ The _light_ of the wastes.”

“Bit… overzealous, isn’t it?” I shot him a weird look. “You got popped in the noggin and right now you’re helping what is _essentially_ Caesar’s boogeyman.”

“Yeah, after four years of…” He bit his lip, looking at his hand before slapping it against his face, knocking his glasses sideways. “…Fuck! Ugh, I really _haven’t_ done anything up until now, huh?”

“Well, that’s not my place to judge, is it?” I smirked, looking at him as he raised an eyebrow curiously. “We never met on proper terms. Most I know you of is that ‘Jameson’ dude you killed out in the wilds of space.”

“Huh. Guess that _is_ true, huh?” He laughed, scratching the back of his neck as he adjusted his glasses. “I got so caught up in my little, uh… _episode_, that I completely forgot.”

“How do you forget the fact you barely know someone?” I asked, pointing at him. He shrugged, walking back along the path. “I’m not… I’m not _that_ easy to get along with, am I?”

“Our personalities are just… magnetized to each other, I think.” He looked back at me, the two of us walking down the road. “Not in a romantic sense, of course – I’d wager we’re both well spoken for.”

“Could say that, yeah…” I laughed softly, hiding my discomfort through a fake smile – ah, now _this_ is how I’m used to socialising. “John… he’s pretty sweet, huh? Always watching your back like that…”

“What’s your partner like?” He looked back at me, slowing his walk so we were closer together. “You keep bringing everything back to me – if we’re gonna be friends, it’d be nicer if both of us are just… out there.” He chuckled. “Y’know, yell at the rocks like I did.”

“…He’s okay.” I looked down at him. Dex wasn’t _that_ much shorter than me, but it was still definitely noticeable. Perils of being tall, I suppose. “Pushy. Hard to reason with, sometimes.” I kicked the dirt. “But… he’s sweet. He knows what’s best, and I’d follow him ‘til the end.”

He gave me an odd look. Was that… worry? “Vulpes… the guy you were talking to, back in Nipton. He mentioned that ‘Caesar’ guy you mentioned when bringing up how we’re helping Joshua.”

“Oh! You already know him then.” I gave him a smile. “He’s smart, he’s charismatic… he’s funny, especially for someone so high up. Knows how to crack a joke, speaks like we do! Our… fourth, I think, anniversary… It was back in September. Maybe. It’s hard to keep track of time sometimes.”

“Four years with him, huh?”

“Hey, he’s not _perfect,_ but is anyone?” I stuck my tongue out. “Not like you’re gonna wake up one morning, bust down a door, and find your prince charming.”

He rolled his eyes, cheeks turning an odd pink tinge. “C’mon. We don’t hurry up, it’ll be nightfall before we get to the fishing lodge.”


	22. COMMUNICATION IS KEY

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this got missed! Holidays are confusing.

_[nick wright - drift through logic]_  
-[]-

It wasn’t _entirely_ nightfall by the time we’d made it, but the sun was definitely setting. Dex swore under his breath, looking out behind him at the orange-pink sky, salmon-colored clouds scooting away as the rain died down.

“We’re gonna have to camp here, I think.” He mumbled, looking over at me. I shrugged – what could I do about it, make time fast-forward? He’s the scientist here, he should know that’s not possible. “No objections?”

“Just don’t try anything and we’re golden.”

“Not on my plan, lady.” He smacked my shoulder, but not… in a mean way. He was trying to be playful, I think. “You forget, I’m the one that rolled onto the Strip with an entourage of _men._”

“Ah yes, the doctor, the manlet, and the legend.” I rolled my eyes. “I was keeping tabs on you, y’know.”

“Convenient.” He rolled his eyes, pushing open the door to the lodge. We were nearly jumped by two giant mantises, but he quickly twirled the gun off his hip, shooting one in the eyes. It exploded, both bugs turning to ash. “Oh hey, I love debugging – one of my favourite pastimes.” He looked over at me, face falling as his joke completely failed to hit. “It’s a… it’s a computer thing. Fixing terminal programs, and stuff… haha.”

I reached to pull out my machete in self-defense, in case there were more bugs… but my machete was gone. I flailed around for a second, feeling around my entire body… no luck. I must have left it at the camp… Whoops.

“You left it back at camp, huh.”

“Yeah…” I mumbled. I thought I was gonna be left defenceless, until Dex handed me a combat knife. It was small, but hey – it’d get the job done in a pinch. “Oh, thanks.”

“Feel free to keep it.” He smiled warmly, the two of us entering the building. It seemed to be empty, but the occasional roach skittering coming from the various rooms said otherwise. We followed the sound, Dex nudging open the door and stomping on the radroach that tried to skitter out.

“First aid kit on the wall.” I mumbled quietly, pointing. He reached over, opening it and pulling out various medical supplies… and a key. “Who’d put a key with a buncha Stimpaks? That’s _asking_ for it to get stolen.”

“Technically, we’re the first people to be in here in… a long time. I think they won’t mind if _we’re_ the ones to swipe the key.” He looked over, walking over behind the bar. I followed him, standing behind him as he knelt down, unlocking the cabinet.

Footsteps. I spun around, pulling the knife out defensively as a tribal entered the building – one of the White Legs; I could tell from the markings. She lunged at me, and I kicked her to the ground, stomping on her stomach as she tried to stab my ankles. Dex jumped to his feet, shooting the tribal as the plasma blast knocked me against the wall. I swore loudly, clutching my head as Dex knelt next to me.

“Are you okay?!” He asked, quickly pulling a stimpak out of his pocket. “Agh, I’m _so_ so so sorry…”

“D-Don’t… Don’t worry about it. Just a headache.” I grunted. “Just hit me wherever with the damn thing so I-I can stand up.”

He nodded, quietly jamming it into my thigh. I sighed, the healing effects – if not immediately curing it – at least mitigated the pain enough for me to get back on my feet, the used needle clattering to the floor uneventfully. He looked at me apologetically, and I shrugged.

“Did you get the walkie-talkies?”

He nodded, pulling them out of his pocket and handing one to me. “Now that we have everything, we’re supposed to meet Daniel in the Narrows, at the Sorrows camp.”

“Alright.” I smiled. “We should camp out here and head out for the Narrows in the morning.”

“Good idea.” He nodded back. “Used to camping out like this?”

“Ah, nothing new really.” I laughed, shrugging. “I’m used to sticking it out on my own, where a bed’s basically just… a pile of dirt wrapped around an old shirt.”

We made camp inside the lodge, Dex handing me his lab coat so I could keep warm – He was fine with his jumpsuit, or so he’d claimed. Something tells me he’d be colder than he’d let on, but… hey. It was a nice sentiment; neither of us exactly planned to lose all our camping stuff when the White Legs attacked, did we?


End file.
